LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

GIFT    OF 

Buil \..r^..ui. ; 

Class 


WHAT'S  NEXT 


OR 


Shall  a  Man  Live  Again  ? 


The  great  question  answered  by  two  hundred  living  Ameri- 
cans of  prominence  in  politics;  in  the  army  and  navy;  in 
science,  art,  music  and  literature;  in  the  mercantile  world; 
in  the  professions;  and  in  the  chairs  of  universities.  An 
expression  from  secular  life  only  {the  views  of  all  clergy- 
men   being   excluded.) 

Compiled  by 
CLARA  SPALDING  ELLIS 

((There  is  in  the  minds  of  men  a  presage  of  a  future  exist- 
ence, and  it  takes  deepest  root,  and  is  most  discoverable,  in  the 
greatest  and  most  ex(dj^Ls&uI^J — Cicero. 


BOSTON 
RICHARD  G.  BADGER 

The  Gorham  Press 
1906 


Br?/? 

£6 

Copyright  1906  by  Clara  Spalding  Ellis 
All  Rights  Reserved 


1.7 


IT 


Printed  at 

THE  GORHAM  PRESS 

Boston,  U.  S.  A. 


INTRODUCTION 

ON  a  bright  June  day,  when  the  birds  made 
"insolent  music"  around  the  house  of 
sorrow,  the  beautiful  light  of  a  noble 
life  went  out.  So  sudden  was  the  blow 
that  those  who  were  left  in  the  darkness 
of  bereavement  were  stunned  by  the 
shock.  Then  came  the  gradual  realization  of 
what  it  meant  to  go  on  with  everyday  duties,  deprived 
of  the  aid  and  comfort  that  had  been  so  freely  given 
by  the  brave  and  loving  heart  now  stilled.  What  had 
become  of  that  fine  ego  which  served  faithfully  and 
cheerily  in  its  appointed  place  on  earth,  overcoming 
many  trials,  adding  year  by  year  to  strength  and 
breadth  of  character? 

One  among  the  band  of  stricken  mourners  "stood 
where  brook  and  river  meet/'  and  she  had  lost  a  sister 
and  mother  combined.  In  the  gloom  of  sleepless 
nights,  alone  and  sobbing  with  the  crushing  burden 
and  the  awful  mystery,  she  cried  aloud :  "O  sister,  do 
you  live?  Somewhere,  somehow,  do  you  still  live?  If 
it  be  possible,  come  and  tell  me !  Just  once,  let  me  see 
or  hear  that  you  are  not  dead !" 

The  gentle  spirit  did  not  come,  no  sound  was  heard, 
and  naught  but  the  soothing  touch  of  time  assuaged 
the  grief  of  the  questioner.  Since  then,  others  of  the 
family  circle  have  crossed  the  Great  Divide,  and 
friends  near  and  dear;  but  there  are  no  more  queries. 
The  compiler  of  this  volume  does  not  know  how, 
when  or  where  the  blessed  conviction  took  root  in  her 
soul  that  those  whom  we  call  dead  have  but  entered 
upon  a  higher  plane  of  existence  than  is  possible  in 
this  hampered  earthly  sphere.  Certainly  it  was  not 
the  result  of  any  scientific  research,  nor  of  sectarian 


INTRODUCTION 

teachings,  nor  does  she  longer  demand  the  special 
proof  of  a  return  of  the  departed  to  mortal  scenes. 
She  simply  believes  there  is  a  life  beyond  the  grave, 
and  finds  much  consolation  in  the  belief. 


And  so  it  has  been  a  labor  of  love  to  prepare  this 
book,  and  send  it  forth  with  the  hope  that  it  will 
strengthen  the  doubting,  and  comfort  the  sorrowing 
who,  like  the  young  girl,  are  crying  out  in  anguish  to 
the  unseen  spirits  of  their  loved  ones. 

It  would  have  been  easy  to  gather  the  expressions 
of  noted  ministers  and  bishops  on  the  subject  of  im- 
mortality— that  has  been  done  before.  It  would  have 
been  a  pleasant  task  to  search  the  writings  of  the  mas- 
ters of  literature  in  past  years,  and  to  extract  there- 
from the  precious  references  to  heaven  and  eternity — 
that,  too,  has  been  done  before.  More  difficult  of 
access,  but  seemingly  more  vital,  of  greater  human 
interest  in  the  rush  and  whirl  of  the  day,  is  the  testi- 
mony of  persons  outside  the  pulpit  who  are  now  liv- 
ing in  this  broad  land — men  and  women  of  renown 
in  widely  differing  pursuits,  absorbed  with  earthly  in- 
terests, yet  united  in  the  common  hope  and  belief  of  a 
better  life  beyond  so-called  death. 

Like  the  founder  of  the  Ingersoll  lectures  at  Har- 
vard, I  "wished  the  subject  to  be  turned  over  in  all 
possible  aspects,  that  results  might  ponderate  harmon- 
iously in  the  true  direction. "  I  have  tried  to  build 
up,  not  to  tear  down.  Some  years  ago,  Gen.  R.  Brink- 
erhoff  wrote  of  critics :  "If  they  have  any  faith  in  any- 
thing which  is  not  purely  negative,  they  ought  to  let  us 
know  what  it  is.  Tell  us  what  you  do  believe  and  not 
what  you  do  not.  It  is  an  outrage  to  weaken  our  mor- 
al standards  unless  they  can  give  us  something  better. 
People  who  simply  tear  down  and  who  have  nothing 
to  substitute  are  enemies  of  mankind/'    So*  I  have  not 


INTRODUCTION 

admitted  controversy,  although  considerable  pressure 
has  been  brought  to  bear  upon  me  to  do  so,  and  some 
very  distinguished  names  would  have  been  added  to 
my  symposium  had  I  been  willing  to  use  arguments 
against  immortality. 

That  a  volume  discussing  the  question  from  both  its 
affirmative  and  negative  sides  would  attract  more  at- 
tention, and  thus  be  more  successful,  as  successes  are 
commonly  regarded,  I  am  aware;  but  the  object  near- 
est my  heart  would  not  be  accomplished.  Arguments 
pro  and  con,  especially  when  thought  out  by  master 
minds,  are  confusing  in  their  eloquence  and  often 
leave  the  reader  in  a  more  unsettled  condition  than  be- 
fore. I  do  not  wish  to  create  a  single  doubt,  to  lessen 
in  the  slightest  degree  the  measure  of  anyone's  faith. 
Rather  would  I  fan  the  spark  of  hope  into  the  glow 
of  a  steadfast  trust  which  shall  irradiate  the  reader's 
pathway,  however  rugged,  until  that  joyous  hour 
when  we  shall  see  "eye  to  eye  and  face  to  face."  The 
profound  thinker,  Prof.  Goldwin  Smith,  indicates  that 
there  is  need  of  such  encouragement,  when  he  says  in 
the  North  American  Review*  for  May,  1904:  uNo 
small  part  of  educated  mankind  has  renounced  or  is 
gradually  renouncing  the  hope  of  a  future  life,  and 
acting  on  the  belief  that  death  ends  all." 

I  return  my  appreciative  thanks  for  the  words  of 
approval  that  have  come  to  me  from  many  high 
sources,  and  for  the  material  that  has  been  sent  in  re- 
sponse to  my  request.  The  interest  shown  in  my  under- 
taking has  sustained  and  assisted  me  in  my  endeavors. 
I  have  acknowledged  each  contribution  by  letter.  The 
thoughts  in  these  pages  are  those  of  the  strictly  ortho- 
dox and  the  liberal  alike.  The  advocates  of  Christian 
Science,  New  Thought  and  Theosophy  give  their  testi- 
mony. Statesmen,  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  jur- 
ists, bankers,  merchants,  labor  leaders  and  other  busy, 


INTRODUCTION 

practical  men  and  women  speak  their  word  of  convic- 
tion. Scientists  have  not  been  silent :  the  mathemati- 
cian and  astronomer,  the  geologist,  naturalist,  physi- 
cist, psychologist,  philosopher,  orientalist,  etc.,  have 
referred  me  to  their  learned  disquisitions  on  the  mo- 
mentous subject.  Only  denial  or  the  possibility  of  a 
future  existence  has  been  debarred. 

The  trying  days  of  an  unusually  severe  winter  and 
spring  were  brightened  by  the  notable  letters  and 
poems  that  came  to  me  daily  through  the  mails.  If 
the  readers  of  this  volume  are  helped  and  benefited  by 
the  uplifting  thoughts  contained  in  these  contributions 
and  in  the  extracts  I  have  been  permitted  to  make 
from  valuable  books  and  treatises,  I  shall  feel  re- 
warded for  my  efforts. 

As  my  final  word,  I  quote  this  prophecy  of  Joaquin 
Miller's,  in  "Songs  of  the  Soul." 

"God  is  not  far;  man  is  not  far 

From  Heaven's  porch,  where  paeans  roll. 

Man  yet  shall  speak  from  star  to  star 
In  silent  language  of  the  soul ; 

Yon  star-strewn  skies  be  but  a  town, 
With  angels  passing  up  and  down." 
Montclair,  N.  J.,  Oct.,  1905.  C.  S.  E. 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 
LETTERS 

Page 

Abbe,  Cleveland,  a.  m.,  PH.D.,  ll.d.,  S.  b 36 

Aitken,  Robert  Grant,  a.  m 70 

Aycock,   Gov.   Charles   B 71 

Baird,   Henry  Carey 37 

Baker,  James  H.,  ll.d 40 

Ball,  Thomas  . 52 

Bartch,  Judge  George  W 48 

Bascom,   John,   ll.d , 22 

Beach,  Mrs.  H.  H.  A 90 

Beach,  Maj.  W.  M 91 

Berry,  U.  S.  Senator  James  H . 76 

Bottome,    Mrs.    Margaret 61 

Bowers,  Henry  F 85 

Browne,  Wm.  Hand,  m.  d 17 

Bryan,  William  J.,  a.  m 19 

Buck,  Dudley  ,  . 42 

Butterworth,  Hezekiah 52 

Carleton,  Will,  a.  m.,  litt.  d 87 

Catt,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman . 56 

Chaffee,  Lieut.  Gen.  Adna  R 20 

Chambers,  Robert  W 32 

Chandler,  Albert  B \  31 

Chatterton,  Gov.  F 67 

Cleveland,  Miss  Matae  B 81 

Cockrell,  U.  S.  Senator  F.  M 72 

Collins,  William  H.,  b.  s.,  a.  m 31 

Comstock,   Anthony    71 

Cook,  Albert  S.,  m.  a.,  l.  h.  d.,  ph.d 27 

Cox,   Palmer    69 

Creighton,  James  E.,  a«.  b.,  ph.d 74 

Crosby,   Ernest   Howard    63 

Crosman,  Miss  Henrietta 91 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Dana,    Richard    Henry    57 

Davis,  Nathan  S.,  m.  d.,  a.  m.,  ll.d 68 

Davis,  Noah  K.,  a.  m.,  ph.d.,  ll.d 30 

Davis,   Mrs.  V.  Jefferson 36 

Debs,  Eugene  V 79 

Dexter,  Henry 52 

Diaz,   Mrs.  Abby   Morton 72 

Dickie,   George  W 33 

Dole,  Nathan  Haskell   53 

Du  Bois,  W.  E.  B,.  a.  m.,  ph.d 46 

Earle,  Mrs.   Alice   Morse 76 

Edmunds,    Ex-Senator   George   F 20 

Ellis,  Edward  S.,  a.  m 58 

Elwell,  Frank  E 87 

Farquhar,  Rear- Admiral  Norman  von  H 65 

Fetterolf,  Adam  H.,  a.  m.,  ph.d.,  ll.d 79 

Foltz,  Mrs.  Clara  S 44 

Foote,    Gen.    Lucius    H 47 

Foster,  John  Watson,   ll.d 43 

Frye,  U.  S.  Senator  William  P.,  ll.d 43 

Gallaudet,   Edward  M.,  ph.d.,  ll.d 58 

Garrett,  Philip  C 77 

Gayley,  Charles  M.,  litt.  d.,  ll.d 73 

Grant,  U.  S.,  Jr 37 

Halford,   E.  W 40 

Harper,  William  R.,  ph.d.,  ll.d 91 

Havemeyer,  John  C 39 

Hayne,  William  Hamilton    60 

Hendrix,  Joseph  C 78 

Herreid,  Gov.  Charles  N 88 

Higginson,  Thomas  W 24 

Howard,  Gen.  O.  0 27 

Hutton,  Laurence,  a.  m 60 

Jones,  Richard  Watson,  a.   m.,   ph.d 76 

Ketchum,  Alex.  P.,  m.  a 80 

King,   Gen.   Charles   20 

King,  Henry  Churchill,  a.  m.,  d.  d 54 

Kirkpatrick,  William  J 82 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Landon,  Melville  D.   ("Eli  Perkins"),  a.  m 82 

Lanman,   Charles   R.,   PH.D.,   ll.d 23 

Lee,  Gen.  Fitzhugh   45 

Lemmon,  John  G 88 

Lemmon,    Sara  A.    P 89 

Lippincott,  Mrs.  Sara  R.  ("Grace  Greenwood") 64 

Lockwood,  Thomas  D 43 

Lowe,  Rear-Admiral  John 64 

McCullough,  Gov.  John  G 60 

McKelway,  St.  Clair,  a.  m.,  ll.d.,  l.  h.  d.,  d.  c.  l.  .  75 

McLaurin,  U.  S.  Senator  Andrew 67 

McLean,  Mrs.   Donald   89 

McWhorter,    Judge    Henry    C 65 

Major,   Charles    ("Edwin   Caskoden") 38 

Metcalf,  Henry  B 54 

Mitchell,  John    84 

Mitchell,  U.  S.  Senator  John  H 26 

Montague,  Gov.  Andrew  J.,  b.  l 70 

Moorehead,  Warren  K.,  m.  a 81 

Morris,  Mrs.  Susan  Cotton 84 

Newburger,   Morris    28 

Oswald,   Felix  L.,  a.   m.,  m.  d 74 

Otero,  Gov.  Miguel  A 55 

Page,  Thomas  Nelson,  litt.  d 41 

Paine,  Robert  Treat,  a.  m 56 

Parry,  David  M 18 

Parsons,  Charles  B 83 

Peabody,  Gov.  James  H 57 

Peaslee,  John  B.,  a.  m.,  ph.d 89 

Peebles,  James  M.,  m.  d.,  a.  m 86 

Pellew,  Henry  E.,  m.  a 61 

Philips,  U.  S.  Judge  J.  F.,  ll.d 25 

Reeves,  Francis  B 49 

Rexford,   Eben   E 80 

Rice,  Mrs.  Alice  Hegan 66 

Riis,  Jacob  A 82 

Rolfe,  William  J.,  a.  m.,  litt.  d 24 

Sanborn,  Miss  Kate  87 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Sangster,   Mrs.   Margaret   E 45 

Schley,  Rear-Admiral  Winfield  S 38 

See,  Thomas  J.  J.,  a.  m.,  ph.d 32 

Severance,    Mrs.    Caroline    M 62 

Smith,  T.  Berry,  a.  m 41 

Sparhawk,  Miss  Frances  C 66 

Speed,  John  Gilmer,  a.  m.,  c.  e 47 

Stoddard,  Charles  Warren,  l.  h.  d.,  ph.d 30 

Sutherland,  Mrs.  Evelyn  Greenleaf 78 

Swift,  Lewis,  PH.D.,  F.  R.  A.  S 44 

Taylor,   Mrs.    Lodusky 54 

Todd,  Mrs.  Mabel  Loomis 28 

Toole,  Gov.  Joseph  K 90 

Wanamaker,  John 32 

White,  Gov.  Albert  B 83 

Wilbour,  Mrs.  Charlotte  B 21 

Winchell,  Newton  H 67 

Winslow,  Miss  Helen  M 47 


PART  II 

EXTRACTS 

Adler,  Felix,  ph.d.,  Immortality 181 

Alden,  Henry  Mills,  l.  h.  d.    The  Mystical  Vision.  .  103 

Alden,  Henry  Mills,  l.  h.  d.    Another  World 106 

Angell,  George  T.    How  to  Teach  Immortality 219 

Bacheller,  Irving,  a.  m.    Uncle  Eb's  Idea  of  Heaven.  . .  201 
Baldwin,  J.  Mark,  a.  m.,  ph.d.,  ll.d.    Theism  and  Im- 
mortality        126 

Brinkerhoff,  Gen.  Roeliff.    The  Resurrection  of  Christ  170 

Carus,  Paul,  ph.d.    The  Communism  of  Soul-Life.  . .  239 
Freeman,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Wilkins.    A  Bit  from  "Jane 

Field" 101 

Harris,  William  T,  a.  m.,  ph.d.,  ll.d.     Immortality 

of  the  Individual     230 


CONTENTS 

Page 
Hyslop,  James  H.,  ph.d.     Immortality  and  Psychical 

Research     187 

J  James,  William,  m.  d.,  ll.d.,  ph.d.,  litt.  d.     Human 

Immortality     153 

Jones,  Rufus  M.,  a.  m.,  litt.  d.    The  Crown  of  Life.  113 
Keen,  William  W.,  m.  d.,  ll.d.     The  Cheerfulness  of 

Death     101 

Kellogg,  John  H.,  m.  d.    The  Soul  of  Man 119 

Lloyd,  Alfred  H.,  a.  m.,  ph.d.    Evolution  and  Immor- 
tality       135 

Mabie,  Hamilton  W.,  a.  m.,  l.  h.  d.,  ll.b.,  ll.d.    The 

Incident  of  Death 95 

Martin,  Daniel  S.,  a.  m.,  ph.d.  Christian  Evolutionism  202 
Martin,  Daniel  S.,  A.  M.,  ph.d.     Scientific  Conceptions 

of  a  Spiritual  World 207 

Patterson,  Charles  Brodie.     Immortality 211 

Peattie,  Mrs.  Elia  W.     Confidence  in  God 132 

Peebles,  James  M.,  m.  d>,  a.  m.    The  Mysteries  of  Life  183 
Remsen,  Ira,  m.  d.,  ph.d.,  ll.d.  Science  and  Immortality  125 
v    Royce,  Josiah,  ph.d.,  ll.d.    The  Conception  of  Immor- 
tality       163 

Stuart,  Mrs.  Ruth  McEnery 169 

Trine,  Ralph  Waldo,  a.  m.     Building  for  Eternity.  .  .  138 

Trowbridge,  J.  T,  a.  m.    Spirit-Discerning  Powers.  .  .  193 

Underwood,  Benj.  F.      A  Lay  Funeral  Sermon 148 

Wallace,  Gen.  Lew.     The  Soul 116 

Weir,  John  F.,  a.  m.    We  Shall  Be  Like  Him 227 

Wheeler,  Benj.  Ide,  a.  m.,  ph.d.,  ll.d.    Dionysos  and 

Immortality     158 

Whiting,  Miss  Lilian.     From  Inmost  Dreamland  ....  142 

Wilder,  Alexander,  m.  d.     Life  Eternal 219 

Wood,  Henry.    The  Unseen  Realm 194 

Wood,  Henry.     A  Corrected  Standpoint  in  Psychical 

Research     199 


CONTENTS 

PART  III 

POEMS 

Page 

Abbey,  Henry.     Faith's  Vista 251 

Adams,  Oscar  Fay.     Dear  Heart,  Believe 270 

Alden,  Mrs.  Cynthia  Westover.  Just  a  Dewdrop.  . . .  270 
Aldrich,  Thos.  Bailey,  a.  m.,  l.  h.  d.     I  Vex  me  not 

with  Brooding  on  the  Years 258 

Bates,  Arlo,  a.  m.,  litt.  d.  Oh,  Egotism  of  Agony.  . .  267 
Bates,     Charlotte     Fiske     (Mme.     Roge).     Immortal 

Through   Mortality    272 

Bates,  Charlotte  Fiske  (Mme.  Roge).  In  Good  Time.  273 
Bloede,    Miss    Gertrude     ("Stuart    Sterne,,).      Soul, 

Wherefore  Fret  Thee   267 

Bonney,  Charles  C,  ll.d.  Henry  Clay 284 

Bonney,  Charles  C,  ll.d.     Death  is  no   Longer   Con- 
queror    286 

Butterworth,  Hezekiah.     O  Soul  of  Mine 249 

Carman,  Wm.  Bliss.    The  Sceptic 267 

Cheney,  John  Vance.    By  and  By 274 

Coolbrith,  Miss  Ina  D.    A  Last  Word 280 

Coolbrith,  Miss  Ina  D.  When  the  Spirit  Breaks  Away  280 
Dodge,  Mrs.  Mary  Mapes.  The  Two  Mysteries.  ...  281 
Gilder,  Richard  Watson,  a.  m.,  ll.d.,  l.  h.  d.  Call  Me 

Not  Dead      258 

King,  Gen.  Horatio  C,  ll.d.  Aspiration 283 

King,  Gen.  Horatio  C,  ll.d.  Our  Heavenly  Home.  .  283 
Lippincott,  Mrs.  Sara  R.  ("Grace  Greenwood").  Two 

Christmas  Times 259 

Litchfield,  Miss  Grace  Denio.    To  the  Cicada  Septem- 

decim      253 

Markham,  Edwin.    A  Bargain 262 

Markham,  Edwin.    One  Life,  One  Law 262 

Miller,  C.  H.     ("Joaquin  Miller,,).     Even  So 254 

Miller,  Mrs.  Emily  Huntington,  a.  m.  After  the  Feast  257 
Mitchell,  S.  Weir,  m.  d.,  ll.d.    Of  One  Who  Seemed 

to  Have  Failed 264 

Moulton,  Mrs.  Louise  Chandler.    My  Father's  House .   256 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Partridge,  Wm.  Ordway.     Sowing  to  the  Spirit 271 

Proctor,  Miss  Edna  Dean.     Heaven,  O  Lord,  I  Cannot 

Lose     268 

Richardson,  Charles  F.,  A.  M.,  PH.D.    After  Death.  . .  .  252 
Riley,  James   Whitcomb,    A.  M.,  litt.  d.  Out   of    the 

Hitherwhere  Into  the  Yon 286 

Robertson,  Louis  A.     Selection  from  "Beyond  the  Re- 
quiems"       266 

Rohlfs,  Mrs.  Anna  Katharine  Green,  b.  a.  Rosa,  Dying  276 

Scollard,  Clinton.    Lift  Up  Thine  Eyes 277 

Scollard,  Clinton.    What  Was  Shall  Be 278 

Sickels,  David  Banks.     Reincarnation 278 

Smith,  Thomas  Berry,  a.  m.     Not  Dead — Not  Lost — 

Not  Far     287 

Taylor,  Edward   Robeson.     Selections   from  "Into   the 

Light"     263 

Ward,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps.    Afterward 252 

Whiting,  Miss  Lilian.    Gates  of  Eden 275 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

THE  following  publishers  have  kindly  permitted 
extracts  to  be  made  from  the  books  mentioned, 
to  which  the  compiler  was  referred  by  the  auth- 
ors for  their  views  on  the  subject  of  immortality. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.  "The  Beleagured 
Forest,"  by  Elia  W.  Peattie;  "Complete 
Poems/'  by  Henry  Abbey. 

The  Century  Co.  "Collected  Poems,"  by  Dr.  S.  Weir 
Mitchell. 

Thos.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.  "Character  Building  Thought 
Power,"  and  "In  Tune  With  the  Infinite,"  by  Ralph  Waldo 
Trine. 

Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.  "The  Life  of  the  Spirit,"  by  Ham- 
ilton Wright  Mabie. 

Geo.  H.  Ellis  Co.  "Science  and  Immortality,"  edited 
by  Samuel  J.  Barrows. 

Harper  &  Bros.  "A  Golden  Wedding  and  Other  Tales," 
by  Ruth  McEnery  Stuart;  "A  Study  of  Death,"  by  Henry 
Mills  Alden;  "Ben  Hur,"  by  Gen.  Lew  Wallace;  "Eben 
Holden,"  by  Irving  Bacheller. 

Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.  "The  Conception  of  Im- 
mortality," by  Josiah  Royce;  "Dionysos  and  Immortality," 
by  Benj.  Ide  Wheeler;  "Human  Destiny  in  the  Light  of 
Revelation,"  by  John  F.  Weir;  "Human  Immortality,"  by 
William  James;  "The  Interpretation  of  Nature,"  by  N.  S. 
Shaler;  "Later  Lyrics,"  by  Thos.  Bailey  Aldrich;  "My 
Own  Story,"  by  J.  T.  Trowbridge;  "Poems,"  by  Edna 
Dean  Proctor;  "Songs  of  the  Silent  World,"  by  E.  S. 
Phelps  Ward. 

Lee  &  Shepard.  "God's  Image  in  Man,"  and  "Studies 
in  the  Thought  World,"  by  Henry  Wood. 

Little,  Brown  &  Co.  "After  her  Death,"  and  "From 
Dreamland  Sent,"  by  Lilian  Whiting;  "At  the  Wind's 
Will,"  by  Louise  Chandler  Moulton. 

McClure,   Phillips  &  Co.     "Life   and   Destiny,"   by 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

Felix  Adler;  "Lincoln  and  Other  Poems,"  and  "The  Man 
With  the  Hoe  and  Other  Poems,"  by  Edwin  Markham. 

The  other  volumes  quoted  were  copyrighted  by  their 
authors,  or  are  out  of  print. 

Courtesies  from  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  Independent,  Out- 
look, and  other  publications  credited  in  parts  II  and  III, 
are  hereby  acknowledged. 


"The  wise  grieve  not  for  the  departed,  nor  for  those 

who  yet  survive, 
NeJ  er  was  the  time  when  I  was  not,  nor  thou,  nor 

yonder  chiefs,  and  ne}  er 
Shall  be  the  time  when  all  of  us  shall  be  not;  as  the 

embodied  soul 
In  this  corporeal  frame  moves  swiftly  on  through 

boyhood,  youth,  and  age, 
So  will  it  pass  through  other  forms  hereafter — be  not 

grieved  thereat, 
The  man  whom  pain  and  pleasure,   heat  and  cold 

affect  not,  he  is  fit 
For  immortality ;  whatever  is  not  cannot  be,  whatever 

is 
Can  never  cease  to  be.     Know  this — the  Being  that 

spread  this  universe 
Is  indestructible.  Who  can  destroy  the  Indestructible? 
These  bodies  that  inclose  the  everlasting  soul,  inscrut- 
able, 
Immortal,  have  an  end;  but  he  who  thinks  the  soul 

can  be  destroyed, 
And  he  who  deems  it  a  destroyer,  are  alike  mistaken; 

it 
Kills  not,  and  is  not  killed;  it  is  not  born,  nor  doth  it 

ever  die; 
It  has  no  past  nor  future — unproduced,  unchanging, 

infinite;  he 
Who   knows   it  fixed,    unborn,    imperishable,    indis- 
soluble, 
How  can  that  man  destroy  another,   or  extinguish 

aught  below? 
As  men  abandon  old  and  threadbare  clothes  to  put  on 

others  new, 


So  casts  the  embodied  soul  its  worn-out  frame  to  enter 
other  forms. 

No  dart  can  pierce  it;  flame  cannot  consume  it,  water 
wet  it  not, 

Nor  scorching  breezes  dry  it — indestructible,  incap- 
able 

Of  heat  or  moisture  or  aridity,  eternal,  all-pervading, 

Steadfast,  immovable,  perpetual,  yet  imperceptible, 

Incomprehensible,  unfading,  deathless,  unimagin- 
able/' 

— From  the  Bhagav  ad-Git  a,  as  given  in  {t  Hindoo 
Wisdom!} 


PART  I 


LETTERS 


William  Hand  Browne,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  English 
Literature,  Johns  Hopkins  University.  Janu- 
ary 20,  IOQf. 

In  such  a  question  as  you  propound,  I  think  I  can 
get  no  nearer  a  positive  demonstration  than  an  inabil- 
ity to  conceive  the  contrary. 

i.  I  am  compelled  to  recognize  in  the  universe: 
( i )  Myself — a  thinking  spirit  possessed  of  will,  and 
(2)  something  which  is  not — me,  which  1  call  Matter. 
(Whether  conceived  in  the  Berkeleian  sense  or  not, 
makes  no  difference — I  must  acknowledge  its  exist- 
ence.) 

Now  I  think  that  to  physicists  the  annihilation  of 
matter  is  inconceivable.  So,  a  fortiori,  to  me  the  an- 
nihilation of  spirit  is  inconceivable.  How  Being  can 
become  not — Being,  is  something  that  I  cannot  con- 
ceive. 

2.  I  must  recognize  in  this  universe  the  work  of  an 
intelligent  Being,  even  though  his  nature  and  purposes 
are  unfathomable  by  me.  I  must  recognize  some  pur- 
pose in  my  life;  and  if  so,  that  purpose  must  be  an  in- 
finitesimal part  of  His  purpose.  Now,  let  me  die  when 
I  will,  I  die  with  my  purpose  only  partially  fulfilled — 
there  must  remain  more  to  be  done  that  no  one  but 
myself  could  do.  Therefore,  if  my  purpose  is  unac- 
complished, part  of  His  purpose  must  remain  unac- 
complished, and  this  I  cannot  conceive. 

So  I  am  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  after  this  bod- 
ily life  is  over,  I  shall  still,  under  other  conditions 
(now  unknown  to  me)  continue  working  out  His  pur- 
pose. 

(17) 


1 8  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

For  the  contrary  opinion  would  involve  the  belief 
that  He  annihilates  me,  solely  to  create  another  spirit 
to  take  up  my  unfinished  life.  This,  as  the  act  of  a 
supreme  Intelligent  Being,  I  cannot  conceive. 

Baltimore,  Md. 


Mr.  David  M.  Parry,  President  National  Association 
of  Manufacturers  of  the  United  States.  Febru- 
ary  ig}   IQ04. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  immortality  of  the 
spirit  will  have  been  proven  scientifically  inside  of  a 
few  years.  Camille  Flammarion,  the  eminent  French 
astronomer,  has  endeavored  to  demonstrate  by  scien- 
tific investigation  the  fact  that  there  is  existence  be- 
yond death.  In  his  book  called  "The  Unknown," 
Flammarion  has  come  very  near  establishing  satisfac- 
tory conclusions.  The  work  he  has  begun  will  be  car- 
ried on  by  others,  and  to  my  mind  there  is  little  doubt 
but  that  final  success  will  be  achieved. 

We  are  moving  very  fast  in  the  realm  of  scientific 
and  psychological  investigation,  and  it  would  be  a 
brave  man  who  would  to-day  take  the  position  that 
scientifically  we  may  not  be  able  to  demonstrate  the  ex- 
istence of  a  spirit  essence  which  has  lived  and  will  live 
for  all  time.  If  there  is  a  soul  it  is  composed  of  ma- 
terial substance,  as  that  which  does  not  have  material- 
ity cannot  exist.  This  materiality  may  be  of  a  form 
which  to-day  we  cannot  detect  by  known  methods. 
But  that  does  not  preclude  the  hope  that  some  day  we 
shall  have  a  greater  knowledge  as  to  the  character  of 
the  Unseen  World. 

I  cannot  say  that  my  ideas  of  the  future  state  are 
based  entirely  upon  the  familiar  conception  offered  us 
from  Biblical  sources,  though  I  have  been  a  lifelong 
church  member  and  have  freely  subscribed  to  the 
tenets  of  the  Christian  religion.    I  think  our  concep- 


AN  LIVE  AGAIN  19 


tions  of  the  future  life  are  to-day  very  vague  and  en- 
tirely incapable  of  definition.  Rest  assured,  however, 
that  if  there  is  to  be  a  prolongation  of  human  memory 
or  Ego  in  the  future  world,  that  the  same  will  be  the 
result  of  natural  law  over  which  we  do  not  have  and 
can  never  have  any  control. 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 


William  Jennings  Bryan,  A.  M.,  Editor,  Lawyer  and 
Politician.     March  24,  igo^. 

If  the  Father  deigns  to  touch  with  divine  power  the 
cold  and  pulseless  heart  of  the  buried  acorn,  and  make 
it  to  burst  forth  from  its  prison  walls,  will  He  leave 
neglected  in  the  earth  the  soul  of  man,  who  was  made 
in  the  image  of  his  Creator?  If  He  stoops  to  give 
to  the  rosebush,  whose  withered  blossoms  float 
upon  the  breeze,  the  sweet  assurance  of  another 
springtime,  will  He  withhold  the  words  of  hope  from 
the  sons  of  men  when  the  frosts  of  winter  come?  If 
Matter,  mute  and  inanimate,  though  changed  by  the 
forces  of  Nature  into  a  multitude  of  forms,  can  never 
die,  will  the  imperial  spirit  of  man  suffer  annihilation 
after  it  has  paid  a  brief  visit,  like  a  royal  guest,  to  this 
tenement  of  clay? 

Rather  let  us  believe  that  He  who,  in  his  apparent 
prodigality,  wastes  not  the  raindrop,  the  blade  of 
grass,  or  the  evening's  sighing  zephyr,  but  makes 
them  all  to  carry  out  His  eternal  plans,  has  given  im- 
mortality to  the  mortal,  and  gathered  to  Himself  the 
spirits  of  our  friends.  Instead  of  mourning,  let  us  look 
up  and  address  our  departed  in  the  words  of  the  poet: 

uThy  day  has  come,  not  gone; 
Thy  sun  has  risen,  not  set; 
Thy  life  is  now  beyond 
The  reach  of  death  or  change, 


20  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Not  ended — but  begun. 

O,  noble  soul!  O,  gentle  heart!  Hail,  and  farewell." 
Lincoln,  Neb. 


Hon.  George  F.  Edmunds,  Lawyer  and  Ex-United 
States  Senator  from  Vermont.  January  28,  IQ04. 

It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  every  one  who  has  taken 
an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  his  own  State,  thereby  declares  himself  to 
believe  in  God  and  a  future  existence. 

Aiken,  S.  C. 


Lieut.  Gen.  Adna  R.  Chaffee,  Chief  of  the  United 
States  Army.     January  20,  IQ04. 

I  am  fully  convinced  that  there  is  a  future  state, 
and  that  the  character  of  that  state  is  dependent  in 
each  case  upon  the  life  and  deeds  of  the  individual 
while  here  on  earth.  That  there  is  a  heaven  with 
streets  of  gold,  or  a  hell  flaming  with  fire  and  brim- 
stone, no  one  believes,  as  such  descriptions  are  con- 
ceded, I  think,  to  be  merely  figurative.  But  I  am  sat- 
isfied, however,  that  a  reward  does  exist  for  the  faith- 
ful, the  just  and  the  charitable,  in  some  way  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  the  particular  soul.  Of  one  thing  I 
am  sure,  the  future  should  hold  no  terror  for  the  man 
who  in  this  life  centers  his  efforts  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  a  noble,  unselfish  character  for  himself,  and 
the  uplifting  of  those  whom  an  all-wise  Providence 
has  placed  within  the  circle  of  his  influence. 

Washington,   D.   C. 


Brig.  Gen.  Charles  King,  President  National  Society 

Army  of  the  Philippines.     February  12,  IQ04. 

I  have  implicit  faith  in  the  existence  of  a  Supreme 

Being,  (This  is  Lincoln's  birthday,  and  his  faith  was 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  21 

sublime),  also  some  vague  notions,  and  some  hope  of 
the  life  beyond  the  River. 

Milwaukee,  Wis. 


Mrs.   Charlotte  B.   Wilbour,   President  of  Sorosis. 
April  22,   1 go 4. 

The  predictive  indications  of  a  greater  future  are  in 
our  souls :  Our  everlasting  insatiety,  our  hopes  that  no 
visible  sphere  can  contain,  our  aspirations  that  make  a 
platform  for  our  feet  of  the  highest  Cape  of  Heaven, 
our  loves  that  yearn  out  to  the  blank  that  hides  our 
loved  ones,  and  the  thousand  glimpses  of  a  greatness, 
truth,  beauty  and  holiness  that  only  eternity  could  be- 
gin to  realize. 

When  a  living  faith  opens  the  door  into  that  other 
world,  and  shows  us  whither  went  all  those  vague 
yearnings  and  bright  hopes  and  insatiable  desires,  we 
have  a  directing  element  to  give  coherence  to  scattered 
powers,  a  field  for  spiritual  vigor,  an  aim  for  all  that 
has  before  run  to  waste.  Our  lives  will  grow  larger 
and  more  beautiful  for  this  faith  in  proportion  as  the 
faith  is  vital  and  genuine.  If  we  believe  but  the  naked 
truth  that  we  are  individually  and  actually  in  life's 
hereafter  when  death  has  completed  the  dissolution  of 
the  marriage  of  soul  and  body,  it  must  bear  with  it 
such  inevitable  consequences  in  every  mind  as  to  make 
a  visible  mark  on  the  life  it  leads.  The  hand  grows 
vigorous  to  fulfill  its  duty  on  earth,  for  a  worthy  pur- 
pose ;  and,  better  than  this,  the  soul  puts  forth  to 
bloom  and  perfect  fruitage  buds  of  prescient  life  that 
blighting  doubt  could  never  suggest. 

New  York  City. 


22  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

John  Bascom,  D.  D.}  LL.D.,  Educator.    January  21 , 
1904. 

( 1 ) .  Immortality  is  necessary  to  the  full  develop- 
ment of  our  rational  powers.  Ethical  activity,  the 
highest  activity,  can  secure  no  sufficient  field,  no  ade- 
quate expression,  without  immortality.  The  seed  and 
the  bud  no  more  contain  a  promise  of  growth  than  do 
the  germinant  powers  of  the  spirit  this  faith  in  life. 
They  indeed  find  development  in  society,  and  so  so- 
ciety struggles  to  give  them  a  kind  of  immortality,  an 
honor  not  measured  by  years. 

The  fact  that  the  physical  world  has  nothing  to 
say  in  behalf  of  immortality  is  of  little  moment.  It 
is  not  the  soil  of  that  immortality. 

(2).  This  belief  is  confirmed  by  the  many  minds, 
and  diverse  ways  in  diverse  minds,  in  which  it  has 
sprung  up.  It  is  indigenous  to  human  thought  and 
experience.  It  is  hidden  as  a  vital  energy  in  the  very 
soul  of  man. 

(3 ) .  The  soundness  of  this  bold  stroke  of  thought 
is  confirmed  to  us  by  the  breadth  of  our  reasoning  in 
other  directions.  We  push  our  conceptions  far  out  in- 
to space,  as  in  the  calculation  of  an  eclipse,  and  the 
facts  respond  to  them.  May  we  not,  with  equal  cour- 
age, thrust  our  ethical  judgments  into  the  measureless 
reaches  of  time  ? 

(4).  Our  belief  in  evolution  gives  confirmation  to 
our  hope.  Evolution  is  the  ruling  idea  of  the  world, 
its  working  plan,  its  spiritual  chart.  On  the  physical 
side  this  evolution  approaches  a  limit.  Man  is  the 
paragon  of  animals.  The  only  truly  potent  extension 
which  remains  to  us  is  spiritual.  This  secured,  and 
the  reaction  of  the  spiritual  world  on  the  physical 
world  will  be  a  new  creation.  Ideas  will  become  forces 
and  the  unseen  will  pour  out  upon  us  unthought-of 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  23 

wealth.  Immortality  is  the  word  that  the  world  has 
long  been  getting  ready  to  utter. 

(5).  The  effect  of  this  faith  on  man  goes  far  to 
confirm  it.  It  greatly  extends  his  thoughts  and  en- 
nobles his  impulses.  The  belief  is  congruous  to  the 
powers  of  man,  and  congruity  is  a  law  of  the  world. 

(6).  The  depressing  and  debasing  effect  of  unbe- 
lief on  the  individual  and  on  society  is  an  effective 
counter  proof.  Mortality  carries  a  deathlike  pallor 
to  the  cheek  and  faintness  to  the  heart  of  man.  It  is 
at  war  with  life. 

( 8 ) .  If  we  are  theists  we  can  hardly  believe  in  the 
goodness  of  God,  or  find  scope  for  His  love,  otherwise 
than  in  connection  with  immortality.  It  is  the  one 
idea  which  brings  all  things  into  the  light. 

Williamstown,   Mass. 


Charles  R.  Lanman,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Orientalist,  Pro 
f ess or  of  Sanskrit,  Harvard  University.  March 
23  1904. 
The  Outlook  published  several  years  ago  a  series 
of  six  articles  entitled,  "The  Message  of  the  World's 
Religions."  These  were  reprinted  in  a  little  book 
published  by  Longmans,  Green  and  Co.,  1898.  In  it 
you  will  find  a  little  article  by  me  upon  Brahmanism 
which  may  perhaps  interest  you  in  this  connection.  I 
send  you  herewith  an  address  which  I  delivered  as 
President  of  the  Philological  Association.  Several 
years  ago  President  Eliot  asked  me  to  give  the  Inger- 
soll  Lecture  on  Immortality,  but  by  reason  of  the 
stress  of  other  work  I  was  unable  to  do  so.  I  hope  I 
shall  be  able  to  ere  long.  Although  these  essays  do 
not  speak  particularly  perhaps  about  immortality,* 

*The  pamphlet  "Beginnings  of  Hindu  Pantheism,"  and 
the.  article  on  Brahmanism  in  "The  Message  of  the  World's 


24  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

nevertheless  I  may  say,  to  use  the  words  of  your 
letter,  that  not  only  is  room  kept  in  my  heart  for 
spiritual  thoughts  and  faith,  but  also  that  spiritual 
thoughts  and  the  spiritual  life  seem  to  me  the  great- 
est and  best  of  all  the  objects  of  human  existence.  I 
am  a  very  happy  man,  and  that  is  the  source  of  my 
greatest  happiness. 
Cambridge,    Mass. 


Thomas  W  entworth  Higginson,  A.  M.,  LL.D.,  Au- 
thor.    February  2,  1904. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  answer  your  question  in 
full.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  have  always  retained 
a  strong  instinctive  faith  in  personal  immortality,  al- 
though all  the  ideas  included  under  the  general  name 
of  resurrection  of  the  body  are  to  me  utterly  distaste- 
ful and  incredible.  These  ideas  are,  however,  un- 
doubtedly what  is  called  "scriptural,"  but  as  I  was 
never  brought  up  to  believe  in  the  literal  infallibility 
of  the  Jewish  or  Christian  Scriptures,  that  objection  is 
not  one  which  would  trouble  me.  My  belief  in  im- 
mortality is  based  essentially  on  human  affection,  and 
on  the  wonderful  attributes  of  the  human  soul;  these 
being  so  marvellous  as  to  make  it  absolutely  incredible 
that  the  soul  should  perish  with  the  body. 

Cambridge,    Mass. 


William   J.  Rolfe,   A.   M.y   Litt.   D.,   Author  and 
Shakespearean  Scholar.     February  8,  1904. 
That  this  mortal  life  is  to  end  with  what  we  call 


Religions,"  have  been  read  by  the  compiler  with  much  inter- 
est, but  since  they  contain  no  personal  views  of  the  author 
on  the  subject  of  immortality,  no  extracts  have  been  taken 
from  them  for  this  volume. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN         25 

death  is  to  me  absolutely  inconceivable.  At  my  age 
(I  am  in  my  seventy-seventh  year)  "every  third 
thought,"  as  Prospero  says,  must  be  umy  grave";  but 
I  believe  that  the  grave  is  only  the  transition  to  anoth- 
er life  of  conscious  existence.  What  the  conditions  of 
that  new  life  will  be,  we  can  no  more  foresee  now 
than  the  unborn  infant  can  know  those  of  the  existence 
upon  which  it  is  to  enter  at  birth;  but  I  believe  that  it 
will  be  a  larger,  richer  life — one  of  growth  and  pro- 
gress— a  continuation  of  the  development  which  has 
been  the  law  of  life  while  the  soul  wears  ''this  muddy 
vesture  of  decay." 
Cambridge,  Mass. 


John  F.  Philips,  LL.D.,  United  States  District  Judge, 
Western  District  of  Missouri.     February    13, 

I  entertain  faith  in  an  existence  beyond  the  grave. 
This,  naturally  enough,  may  have  its  primary  root  in 
the  fact  of  my  having  been  brought  up  "under  the 
drippings  of  the  sanctuary,"  by  parents  who  implicitly 
believed  in  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  in  a 
heaven  and  a  hell. 

Equally  natural  is  it  that  the  matured  and  culti- 
vated mind,  especially  that  of  the  lawyer  and  judge, 
should  be  conducted  to  independent  and  earnest  medi- 
tation and  investigation  touching  so  stupendous  a 
question.  The  centrifugal  forces  of  speculation  and 
mere  philosophy  pull  hard,  at  times,  upon  the  centri- 
petal power  of  simple  faith;  so  that  in  the  varying 
moods  of  the  mind  I  sometimes  have  to  say :  I  do  not 
know.  But  all  the  while  there  is  the  whispering  of 
uthe  still,  small  voice"  of  conscience,  telling  that  there 
is  something  within  the  spirit  that  is  immortal.  Aside 
from  the  instinctive  abhorrence  of  annihilation,  there 
is  the  implantation  of   a    resistless   aspiration    for   a 


26  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

higher  and  perpetual  existence;  the  constant  yearning 
for  reunion  with  the  loved  ones  gone  before;  utterly 
irreconcilable  with  the  idea  that  at  the  moment  of 
physical  dissolution  this  spiritual  essence  shall  vanish 
into  uairy  nothingness." 

Then  when  we  pass  from  the  abstract  to  the  con- 
crete, we  know  that  matter  is  indestructible,  and 
however  changed  in  form  it  is  transformed  again. 
Why  then  should  the  human  mind  and  spirit,  which 
so  dominate  the  animal  kingdom  and  so  subject  matter 
to  their  uses,  have  no  transformation,  or  resurrection  ? 
When  all  these  things  sweep  across  the  mind,  I  can 
but  exclaim:  "I  believe;  Lord,  help  my  unbelief." 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 


Hon.  John  H.  Mitchell,  United  States  Senator  from 
Oregon.     February  20,  1904* 

Yes,  I  do  believe  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt 
that  there  is  an  existence  beyond  the  grave.  I  not  only 
believe  that,  but  I  am  firm  in  the  conviction  that  our 
loved  ones  who  have  gone  from  this  to  another  world 
can,  under  certain  conditions,  come  back  and  commun- 
icate with  us  in  this  present  life ;  of  this  act  I  have  had 
evidence  of  the  most  convincing  character.  In  my 
earlier  years  I  took  it  for  granted,  without  knowing 
anything  about  it,  that  there  was  an  existence  beyond 
the  grave.  But  now  I  do  not  act  merely  on  faith,  but 
on  evidence  that  to  me  is  entirely  satisfactory. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


*Died  Dec.  8,  1905. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  27 

Albert  S.  Cook,  M.S.,  M.  A.,  L.  H.  D.,  Ph.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  English  Language  and  Literature,  Yale 
University.    February  22,  1904. 

On  the  subject  of  a  future  state  I  entertain  no 
doubts  whatever;  and  were  I  to  entertain  them,  should 
not  consider  the  present  life  worth  living,  since  it  de- 
rives its  significance  and  value  only  from  its  relation 
to  that  which  lies  beyond  the  grave.  In  fact,  I  fully 
agree  with  the  writer  of  the  Spectator  paper  No.  186: 
"The  prospect  of  a  future  state  is  the  secret  comfort 
and  refreshment  of  my  soul;  it  is  that  which  makes 
nature  look  gay  about  me ;  it  doubles  all  my  pleasures, 
and  supports  me  under  all  my  afflictions.  I  can  look 
at  disappointments  and  misfortunes,  pain  and  sick- 
ness, death  itself,  and,  what  is  worse  than  death,  the 
loss  of  those  who  are  dearest  to  me,  with  indifference, 
so  long  as  I  keep  in  view  the  pleasures  of  eternity,  and 
the  state  of  being  in  which  there  will  be  no  fears  nor 
misapprehensions,  pains  nor  sorrows,  sickness  nor  sep- 
aration." 

I  may  add  that  I  rest  my  hopes  of  immortality  on 
the  power  and  promises  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  revealed  in 
The  Gospels. 

New  Haven,  Conn. 


Maj.-Gen.  Oliver  Otis  Howard,  United  States  Army. 
February  3,  IQ04. 
During  my  life  of  over  seventy  years,  I  do  not  re- 
member a  time  when  I  have  doubted  the  truth  of  the 
averment  of  "existence  beyond  the  grave."  The 
Scriptures  of  course  avow  it  in  one  form  or  another 
from  the  beginning  of  Genesis  to  the  close  of  Revela- 
tion. Outside  of  all  "revelations,"  the  consensus  of 
opinion  follows  the  soul-consciousness  of  an  existence 
which  is  continuous.  The  soul  grows  and  develops 
during  our  normal  life,  and   often   is  so   quickened 


28  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

when  the  body  is  perishing  that  it  has  a  foretaste  of 
blessed  immortality, — sometimes  there  is  a  foretaste 
of  misery. 

The  best  of  earth  cling  to  immortality.  The  sav- 
age never  doubts  it;  and  those  who  hate  and  are 
hated  most,  fear  and  tremble  at  its  increasing  visions. 

The  sure  condition  is  covenanted  to  every  faithful 
soul:  "Goodness  and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the 
days  of  my  life,  and  I  will  dwell  in  the  House  of  the 
Lord  forever." 

Burlington,  Vt. 


Mrs.  Mabel  Loomis  Todd,  Author  and  Astronomer. 
April  21,  1904. 

On  page  103  of  one  of  my  books,  " Corona  and 
Coronet,' '  you  will  find  the  following  sentence,  rela- 
tive to  the  lonely  death  of  Kate  Field  on  an  inter-isl- 
and Hawaiian  steamer,  when  I,  a  chance  acquaintance, 
was  her  only  companion : 

uMiss  Field  had  never  acknowledged  herself  de- 
feated, and  who  shall  call  this  unfinished  work  and 
lonely  death  defeat — in  face  of  an  illimitable  future?" 

This  may  be,  perhaps,  a  partial  answer  to  your 
question. 

Observatory  House,  Amherst,  Mass. 


Mr.  Morris  Newburger,  Merchant  and  Bank  Presi- 
dent.    April  7,  IQ04. 

All  devout  Jews  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul;  in  a  higher  life;  in  a  life  to  come  where  they  will 
meet  all  their  dear  departed  ones. 

I  examined  the  creeds  of  most  of  the  ruling  positive 
religions,  and  none  of  them  satisfied  me  completely. 
So  I  turned  to  nature — God's  own  handiwork.  I  be- 
held myriads  of  planets,  stars,  suns,  and  moons,  and 
found  that  they  moved  in  perfect  order.     I  saw  the 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  29 

seasons  following  one  another  with  regularity,  and  I 
concluded  that  an  All-Wise  Directing  Power  must  be 
behind  all  of  it,  for  if  there  was  not,  there  would  be 
chaos  and  destruction,  and  nothing  could  exist.  The 
next  thought  naturally  was — in  what  relation  do  I 
stand  to  that  Power?  The  solution  was  easier  than  I 
imagined.  I  am  put  on  this  earth  by  that  All-Wise 
Power  for  a  purpose,  which  is  indicated  by  the  mental 
and  physical  gifts  with  which  I  have  been  endowed.  I 
must  use  these  gifts  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  my  rea- 
son and  conscience  tell  me,  for  my  self-preservation 
and  for  the  benefit  of  others.  What  then,  when  all 
this  has  been  done  and  I  must  die?  Then,  feel  sure 
that  the  same  All-Wise  Power,  the  same  God  of  the 
Universe,  has  made  such  provision  for  you  as  in  His 
infinite  wisdom  is  best  for  you  in  harmony  with  the 
Universe. 

These  conclusions  have  completely  satisfied  me  for 
the  last  thirty  years,  and  nothing  that  I  have  heard, 
read  or  seen  since  has  been  able  to  change  my  views. 
I  therefore  send  you  the  following : 

The  Jews  were  the  first  people  to  proclaim  to  the 
world  the  unity  of  God;  the  Sole  Creator,  Maintainer 
and  Governor  of  the  World,  from  the  beginning  un- 
to eternity.  They  proclaimed  that  God  made  man  in 
his  own  image ;  that  the  world  is  a  universe,  a  unity. 
Therefore,  as  nothing  can  be  lost  out  of  the  universe, 
the  spirit,  the  spark  of  life,  or  soul,  inhabiting  our 
bodies  at  death,  cannot  be  lost,  but  still  forms  part  of 
the  universe  to  be  used  by  God. 

In  other  words,  after  death  we  are  under  the  gov- 
ernment and  control  of  the  same  power,  the  same  God 
as  in  this  life,  and  knowing  that  this  life  is  imperfect, 
and  that  our  noblest  and  highest  aspirations  are  unob- 
tainable here,  we  may  rightfully  look  to  a  just  God 
for  better  opportunities  hereafter.    It  is  for  these  rea- 


3o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

sons  that  Moses  and  the  Prophets  exhorted  the  people 
to  lead  pure  and  righteous  lives  to  prepare  them  for 
the  higher  life  to  come. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Charles  Warren  Stoddard,  L.  H.  D.,  Ph.D.,  Author. 
March  28,  19P4. 

When  your  kind  favor  reached  my  address  I  was 
recovering  from  an  illness  that  carried  me  to  the  brink 
of  the  grave.  My  escape  from  death  was  almost  mir- 
aculous. My  life  was  despaired  of,  and  I  received  the 
Last  Sacraments  of  the  Church.  With  the  memory 
of  that  hallowed  hour  to  soften  and  sweeten  whatever 
experiences  may  lie  before,  whatever  sorrows  may  be- 
fall me,  I  can  send  you — in  testimony  of  my  blind 
faith — the  lines  enclosed. 

"I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church,  the  Communion  of  saints,  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  life  everlasting. 
Amen." — The  Apostle's  Creed. 


Out  of  the  loam  of  this  corruptible  body  springs 
heavenward  the  invisible  blossom  of  the  soul ! — From 
uThe  Lepers  of  Molokai,"  by  Chas.  W.  Stoddard. 


Noah  K.  Davis,  A.  M.y  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of 
Philosophy,  University  of  Virginia,  Author  of 
"Juda's  Jewels'"  and  "The  Story  of  the  Naza- 
rene.f}      March   4,    1904. 
Most  heartily  do  I  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.     Clear  reason  coincides  with  revelation  in  sup- 
port of  this  glorious  doctrine. 

Charlottesville,  Va. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN         31 

William  H.  Collins,  B.  S.,  A.  M.,  Astronomer,  Di- 
rector Haverford  College  Astronomical  Observ- 
atory.    March  21,   1904. 

Do  I  believe  in  immortality?  Yes. 

Haverford,  Pa. 


Mr.  Albert  B.  Chandler,  President  Postal  Telegraph 
Cable  Co.     January  29,  1904. 

I  believe  there  is  an  existence  beyond  the  grave. 
The  structure  of  my  mind  is  so  that  I  can  cherish  faith 
and  hope  that  the  brief  span  of  mortal  life  is  not  all. 
The  Universe  could  not  have  happened  by  chance. 
There  must  have  been  a  Creator,  infinite  in  every  per- 
fection. Finite  minds  cannot  comprehend  him,  and 
can  only  faintly  apprehend  such  of  his  works  as  are 
within  reach  of  our  narrow  mental  and  physical  vi- 
sion. It  does  not  seem  reasonable  that  the  human 
race  should  have  been  endowed  with  such  faculties  as 
belong  to*  it  only  to  die  as  the  grass  and  the  leaves  die. 
The  intuitive  expectation  inborn  in  all  mankind  of  a 
life  beyond  the  death  of  the  body  points  to  its  realiza- 
tion. 

The  teaching  of  Christ  is  the  purest  sentiment  and 
the  best  rule  of  action  known  to  us.  It  is  applicable 
to  each  individual  in  all  the  world.  It  is  reasonable 
for  us  to  believe  that  He  was  what  he  believed  himself 
to  be.  He  brought  life  and  immortality  to>  light,  and  I 
gladly  accept  as  conclusive  what  He  has  revealed.  No 
creed,  no  churches,  no>  forms  or  ceremonies  are  need- 
ful for  this,  although  they  may  be  helpful.  They  are 
only  the  outward  expression  of  the  preferences  of  in- 
dividuals and  are,  no  doubt,  useful  to  great  numbers 
of  people. 

New  York  City. 


32  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Mr.  Robert  W .  Chambers,  Author  and  Artist.  Janu- 
ary  2Q,    IQ04. 

Nothing  material  is  destructible;  why  should  the 
soul  be  ? 

New  York  City. 


Mr.  John  W ana-maker,  Merchant,  Ex-Postmaster 
General.  April  20,  IQ04. 
The  Bible  bristles  with  signs  and  proofs  of  the  im- 
mortality of  man.  Christ's  resurrection  confirmed  by 
as  many  reliable  witnesses  as  support  any  other  fact  of 
that  period,  is  the  strongest  and  most  convincing  evi- 
dence. The  transfiguration  is  very  full  of  light  upon 
immortality. 

(a)  The  two  men  who  left  the  world  miraculously 
— Moses,  whose  grave  could  not  be  found,  and  Eli- 
jah, who  left  the  world  in  a  chariot  of  fire,  came  back 
to-  testify  to  their  own  immortality,  and  also  to  talk 
about  Christ's  death,  who  claimed  that  by  dying  and 
rising  again  He  would  bring  life  and  immortality  to 
light  for  all  who  would  believe. 

(b)  There  was  mutual  recognition  on  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration  and  there  is  not  a  doubt  of  identity 
hinted. 

(c)  If  Moses  and  Elias  could  come  back  and  talk, 
why  cannot  each  of  those  who  have  entered  into  rest, 
if  the  Lord  wills,  meet  friends  on  mountains  of  trans- 
figuration and  talk? 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


T.  J.  J.  See,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.  {Berlin),  F.  R.  A.  S.,  Pro- 
fessor cf  Mathematics,  U.  S.  N.    April  3,  IQ04. 
I  have  yet  to  write  my  article  on  Immortality,  but 
if  I  live  and  carry  out  some  plans  I  am    forming,  I 
hope  to  prepare  such  a  paper  eventually,  viewing  the 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN         33 

matter  as  a  man  of  scientific  training  views  other  phe- 
nomena. 

That  the  soul  is  immortal  appears  to  me  daily  more 
and  more  probable,  almost  certain ;  let  no  one  be  de- 
ceived by  the  materialism  and  pessimism  of  this  de- 
generate age.  People  will  recover  their  senses  after 
awhile,  and  see  that  Plato,  divine  Plato,  was  right. 
Man  is  not  mere  clay,  but  a  part  of  the  supreme  intel- 
ligence which  endures  through  all  generations.  We 
must  therefore  be  patient,  and  labor  on  in  faith  till 
we  join  the  blessed  of  other  ages  and  countries.  What 
Homer  and  Plato  and  the  Greeks  believed  regarding 
the  divine  character  of  the  soul,  I  also  believe;  and 
thus  understand  the  sublime  faith  of  Socrates. 

Mare  Island  Observatory,  CaL 


Mr.  G.  W .  Dickie,  Manager  Union  Iron  Works,  Ex- 
President  Technical  Society  of  Pacific  Coast,  San 
Francisco,   CaL     January   26,   1904. 

Many  will  admit  they  believe  in  immortality,  but 
how  they  came  by  such  a  belief  is  not  so  easy  to  put 
into  words,  for  this  faith  does  not  come  to  us  like  oth- 
er branches  of  human  knowledge  and  experience. 
High  as  man  stands  above  the  things  and  creatures 
around  him,  there  is  a  higher  and  more  exalted  posi- 
tion within  his  spiritual  vision.  And  the  ways  are 
infinite  in  which  he  occupies  his  thoughts  in  regard  to 
the  fears,  the  hopes  and  the  expectations  of  a  future 
life. 

I  have  come  to  believe  that  the  truth  relative  to  a 
future  life  cannot  be  brought  to  his  knowledge  by  any 
cultivation  of  his  mental  powers,  however  exalted 
they  may  be ;  that  such  knowledge,  if  it  comes  to  him 
at  all,  will  come  through  other  teaching  than  his  own, 
and  will  have  to  be  received  through  simple  faith  in 
the  testimony  given.    I  find  that  I  cannot  apply  those 


34  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

mental  operations  which  I  find  good  in  solving  prob- 
lems relating  to  this  life,  to  those  higher  problems  re- 
lating to  a  life  that  for  me  has  not  yet  come.  When 
that  life  comes,  the  ability  to  comprehend  it  will  come, 
like  the  faculties  we  now  possess.  I  have  never  seen 
anything  incompatible  between  those  things  of  man 
which  can  be  known  and  demonstrated  by  the  mental 
powers  with  which  he  is  now  endowed,  and  those  high- 
er things  concerning  his  eternal  future,  that  he  cannot 
find  out  by  any  exercise  or  culture  of  these  faculties. 

Man's  hope  of  immortality  became  a  clear  and 
steady  conception  through  the  teachings  of  Christ. 
"If  it  were  not  so,"  He  said,  "I  would  have  told  you." 
It  cannot  be  questioned  that  there  is,  and  always  has 
been,  a  deep  and  wide  testimony  in  man's  nature  to  a 
future  life.  It  may  be  pronounced  either  true  or  false, 
but  it  must  be  admitted  to  exist.  It  appears  in  all  coun- 
tries and  in  all  ages,  and  the  seeming  exceptions  to  it 
no  more  contradict  the  fact  than  the  absence  of  rea- 
son in  some  individuals,  or  its  low  development  in 
some  races,  would  lead  us  to  deny  that  man  is  rational. 
There  is  an  indication  of  this  in  the  manner  in  which 
earthly  things  are  often  pursued.  When  we  see  a  man 
grasping  at  wealth  and  fame,  or  at  power  and  pleas- 
ure, casting  them  all  into  the  void  of  the  soul  and  still 
unsatisfied,  we  begin  to  feel  that  he  is  made  for  the 
infinite  and  the  divine.  The  world  cannot  fill  his  soul, 
because  it  is  greater  than  the  world.  There  is  an  indi- 
cation of  it  also  in  the  mind  of  man  as  he  intermeddles 
with  all  knowledge,  pursues  the  broken  rays  of  truth, 
when  he  strives  to  resolve  the  facts  he  discovers  into 
laws,  first  general,  then  universal,  and  so  upward  to 
our  supreme  center. 

In  his  thirst  for  truth  solely  because  it  is  truth,  in 
his  faith  in  it,  in  his  search  after  it  as  single  and  sover- 
eign, there  is  a  token  of  man's  origin  and  destiny.    It 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN         35 

comes  to  light,  too,  in  the  way  a  man  pursues  an  ob- 
ject beyond  the  range  of  self-interest  and  the  term  of 
his  own  earthly  life.  This  is  not  only  seen  in  a  few 
men  of  lofty  enthusiasm,  who  embrace  a  world  or  a 
nation  in  their  thoughts ;  but  every  day,  and  In  every 
walk  of  life,  we  meet  men  who  have  aims  more  or  less 
exalted,  for  which  they  are  ready  to  give  time  and  la- 
bor and  endless  anxiety,  without  any  prospect  of  re- 
ward or  fame,  without  even  any  hope  that  they  will 
see  the  result. 

In  this  stretch  of  man's  soul  beyond  self,  is  there 
not  a  look  beyond  earthly  limits?  Do  we  not  find  it 
also  in  the  conceptions  men  have  of  an  ideal  of  per- 
fection, in  the  delight  with  which  they  dwell  upon  it, 
in  their  struggles  to  realize  it,  and  in  the  deep  lamen- 
tations that  come  from  the  heart  over  the  imperfect 
and  impure?  This  yearning  after  the  pure  and  beau- 
tiful can  only  be  realized  in  immortality.  In  some 
form,  it  is  in  all  the  religions  which  man  has  made  for 
himself — for  he  cannot  remain  permanently  without  a 
religion  and  that  religion  must  in  some  way  have  a  fu- 
ture. Individuals  may  reason  themselves  out  of  their 
sense  of  an  immortality,  and  particular  nations  and 
ages,  through  the  influence  of  a  prevailing  material- 
ism, may  have  sunk  very  low  in  the  appreciation  of  it ; 
but  it  is  still  there,  worked  into  the  very  fibre  of  the 
human  heart,  ready  to  spring  up  when  the  right  ap- 
peal is  made  to  it. 

In  the  midst  of  all  the  materialism  and  the  base 
pursuit  of  wealth  so  prevalent  in  our  day,  the  missions 
of  Christian  churches  at  home  and  abroad,  the  sacri- 
fices and  self-denying  labors  for  the  spread  of  a  gospel 
of  which  eternal  life  is  the  premise,  prove  how  strong 
among  many  millions  is  the  conviction  of  the  value  of 
a  soul  in  its  immortal  nature,  and  that  vast  numbers  of 


36  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

men  hold  this  as  a  great  essential  of  their  religion,  and 
are  looking  to  God  with  the  hope  of  an  immortality. 

I  have  only  taken  a  glance  at  this  great  question 
and  with  a  dim  eye,  but  I  feel  the  hope  within  me 
stronger  than  any  power  of  expression,  and  if  this 
hope  were  false,  surely  there  would  be  some  way  of 
knowing  it. 

"If  it  were  not  so,  He  would  have  told  us." 


Mrs.  Varina  Jefferson  Davis.     January  28,  IQ04. 

I  sincerely  believe  in  the  Holy  Bible,  and  in  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God  and  Redeemer  of  the  world's 
sinners,  for  whom  he  suffered  all  things  and  died  on 
the  cross.  I  believe  in  the  Trinity — the  Father,  Son 
and  Holy  Ghost,  "whose  kingdom  shall  have  no  end." 

New  York  City. 


Cleveland  Abbe,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  S.  B.y  Me- 

teorologist  United  States  Weather  Bureau;  Pro- 
fessor of  Meteorology,   Columbia   University; 
Lecturer  on  Meteorology,  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity.    March  8,  11)04. 
I  was  brought  up  in  the  confident  belief  that  we  are 
immortal,  and  that  after  death  we  shall  retain  our  in- 
dividuality and  our  personal  consciousness.    The  arg- 
uments in  favor  of  this  belief  are  very  well  put  in  But- 
ler's Analogy,  but  perhaps  to  myself  the  strongest  ap- 
peal comes  from  within.    You  may  certainly  quote  me 
as  one  who,  through  all  the  troubles  and  trials  of  life, 
has  not  yet  lost  his  belief  in  the  fatherhood  of  God, 
the  brotherhood  of  man,  and  the  hope  of  the  resurrec- 
tion.   Life  would  hardly  be  worth  living  if  this  world 
were  all  there  is  to  it. 
Washington,  D.  C. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  37 

Ulysses  S.  Grant,  Jr.,  Lawyer.    February  7,  IQ04.. 
I  believe  there  is  an  existence  beyond  the  grave. 
San  Diego,   Cal. 


Mr.  Henry  Carey  Band,  Publisher  and  Political 
Economist.  January  18,  1904. 
I  have  much  pleasure  in  appending  the  confession 
of  faith  of  Gov.  Lewis  Morris,  of  New  Jersey,  which 
I  have  accepted  most  heartily,  and  which  is  my  own 
belief.  This  I  consider  fundamental,  and  I  am  in  per- 
fect charity  with  all  men  and  with  all  women  who 
build  up  a  fuller  faith  on  this  great  foundation.  I 
thank  you  for  giving  me  an  opportunity  of  calling 
your  attention  to  this  splendid  exposition  of  the  faith 
of  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  the  Colonial  Period. 

CONFESSION  OF  FAITH  OF  LEWIS  MORRIS 

Governor  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  1738-46 

"I  am  now,  and  I  doubt  not  I  shall  die,  in  the  firm 
belief  that  there  is  one  God,  the  Creator  of  all  things, 
who  governs  the  world,  as  he  sees  most  suitable  to 
answer  the  purposes  of  his  divine  providence.  What 
the  state  of  the  dead  is  I  know  not,  but  believe  it  to 
be  such  as  is  most  suitable  for  them,  and  that  their 
condition  and  state  of  existence  after  death  will  be 
such  as  will  fully  show  the  wisdom,  justice,  and  good- 
ness of  their  great  Creator  to  them." 

Will  of  Lewis  Morris.    Proved  January  12,  1746. 

Papers  of  Lewis  Morris.  Appendix,  page  326. 
New  York,  1852. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


38  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Rear-Admiral  fVinfield  Scott  Schley,  U.  S.  N.  Janu- 
ary 31,   1Q04. 

I  am  proud  to  say  that  I  have  the  profoundest  be- 
lief in  the  existence  of  a  better  life,  a  higher  life  be- 
yond the  grave. 

The  fact  that  man  in  every  condition  of  life  from 
the  savage  to  the  civilized  state,  wherever  met,  seeks 
something  outside  and  beyond  himself  to  adore  or  ap- 
peal to,  is  the  evidence  of  the  godlike  in  man,  and  it 
finally  triumphs  as  he  emerges  into  more  intellectual 
light. 

I  do  not,  and  I  cannot,  understand  how  anyone  can 
thrust  this  belief  in  God  and  God's  goodness  out  of 
his  mind,  surrounded  as  he  is  by  so  much  in  himself 
and  outside  himself  which  proves  that  the  theory  of 
accident  is  not  sufficient  to  account  for  the  mysteries 
his  best  and  highest  cultivation  cannot  penetrate  or 
explain. 

Washington,  Z).  C. 


Mr,  Charles  Major  ("Edwin  Caskoden") ,  Lawyer 
and  Author.     March  18,  1904. 

In  reply  to  your  letter  I  would  say: — I  believe  in 
the  immortality  of  the  soul.  Beyond  a  doubt  it  is  in- 
destructible and  must  have  an  eternity  of  life  before 
it.  An  onesided  eternity  is  an  axiomatic  impossibility, 
therefore  I  go  one  step  further  than  the  usual  belief — 
If  the  soul  has  as  infinite  future,  it  must  have  had  an 
infinite  past. 

This  view  of  the  case  will  not  necessarily  conflict 
with  any  religious  belief.  It  is  simply  a  statement  of 
the  question  from  a  scientific  standpoint.  If  there  is  a 
human  soul  it  certainly  never  had  a  beginning,  and 
can  never  cease  to  exist.    It  is  not  a  thing  for  a  day. 

Shelbyville,  Ind. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN         39 

Mr.  John  C.  Havemeyer,  Merchant  and  Sugar  Refin- 
er. May  13,  IQ04. 
Yes ;  I  believe  there  is  a  life  beyond  the  grave.  I  feel 
assured  that  while  everything  that  is  visible  and  ma- 
terial is  transient  and  subject  to  decay,  there  is  a  world 
in  which  our  existence  will  never  terminate,  and  where 
we  shall  be  free  from  the  limitations  which  pertain  to 
our  earthly  condition. 

The  chief  ground  of  this  conviction  is  the  teaching 
of  the  Bible,  which  I  accept  as  a  divine  revelation,  and 
especially  the  portion  which  records  the  acts  and 
words  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  came  down  from  Heaven 
or  the  other  world  and  made  revelations  concerning  it, 
which  included  a  declaration  of  the  will  of  God  and 
our  relations  to  Him,  and  gave  positive  assurance  of  a 
future  life  in  glorified  bodies  in  which  we  should  be 
able  to  enjoy  the  divine  presence,  which  He  called 
eternal  life. 

There  seems  abundant  confirmation  of  this  belief 
in  the  consciousness  or  spiritual  vision  of  Christians,  in 
the  universal  aspiration  and  hopes  of  mankind,  in  rea- 
son, in  the  constitution  of  man  and  in  the  divine  regu- 
lation of  the  universe,  which  clearly  shows  a  purpose 
of  developing  mankind,  for  which  we  could  not  un- 
derstand a  motive  unless  we  are  immortal. 

The  influence  of  a  belief  in  immortality  in  restrain- 
ing men  from  evil  and  in  developing  high  purposes 
and  noble  and  benevolent  action  is  a  powerful  argu- 
ment, and  is  so  recognized  by  the  world.     I  select  a 
few  of  the  many  confirmatory  passages  in  Scripture : 
Psalm  16:11:  "In  thy  presence  is  fulness  of  joy,  at 
thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for  ever- 
more." 
John  1 1 :25  :  "Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life;  he  that  believeth  in  me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live." 


40  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

John  14:3:  UI  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  And 
if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will 
come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  myself; 
that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also." 

John  17:2  and  3:  "As  thou  hast  given  him  power 
over  all  flesh,  that  he  should  give  eternal 
life  to  as  many  as  thou  hast  given  him.  And 
this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know 
thee  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ, 
whom  thou  hast  sent." 

Romans  8:18:  "For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of 
this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  glory  which  shall  be  re- 
vealed in  us." 

1st  Cor.  15  :53  :  "For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  in- 
corruption,  and  this  mortal  must  put  on 
immortality." 

2  Cor.  5:1:  "For  we  know  if  our  earthly  house  of 
this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a 
building  of  God,  an  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 
Yonkers,  N.  Y. 


Mr.  E.  W.  Halford,  Paymaster  U.  S.  A.  February 
2,  1904. 

I  believe  in  the  life  beyond  this  natural  life,  because 
I  believe  in  the  revealed  word  of  God,  and  especially 
in  His  last  and  best  word — Jesus  Christ — who  came 
"to  bring  life  and  immortality  to  light." 

Washington,  D.  C. 


James  H.  Baker,  A.  M.,  LL.D.,  President  University 
of  Colorado.     January  20,  1904. 
Your  question  touches  upon  points  of  the  profound- 
est  philosophy,  but  I  will  write  this  much : 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  41 

The  faith  of  the  poets  is  not  mere  sentiment.  This 
is  a  rational  world;  reason  appears  in  nature  and  in 
the  mind  of  man.  Purpose  appears  in  history.  We 
must  believe  not  only  that  there  is  a  great  purpose 
in  creation,  but  that  God  is  just  and  has  the  power  of 
fulfillment,  and  that  what  is  incomplete  in  this  life 
will  be  completed  in  eternity.  The  conceptions  of 
God  and  immortality  belong  to  rational  and  sane 
minds,  and  are  a  scientific  necessity  to  explain  nature 
and  human  nature. 

Boulder,  Colo. 


Thomas  Nelson  Page,  Litt.  D.,  Author.  February  26 } 
1904. 

It  has  always  appeared  to  me  that  the  Supreme 
Being  would  not  have  made  Love  the  divinest  attri- 
bute of  human  nature  to  cut  it  off  suddenly  at  death. 
The  Roman  Centurion  seems  to  me  to  have  expressed 
the  feeling  of  many  men. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


T.  Berry  Smith,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and 
Physics,  Central  College.  February  27,  1904. 
I  believe  because  of  the  Scriptures,  because  of 
nature  with  its  evidences  of  design  and  wisdom  and 
beneficence  and  love,  because  of  the  beautiful  lives 
of  my  parents  and  friends,  because  of  the  peace  that 
believing  brings  me,  because  of  the  need  of  some 
sphere  of  life  to  complement  this  one  so  full  of  disap- 
pointment, of  incompleteness  and  of  longings  never 
satisfied. 

FAITH 

There's  many  a  soul  goes  over  the  billowy  sea, 
And  knows  no  more  of  him  that  guides  the  ship — 


42  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

The  pilot  at  the  wheel — than  do  we  all 
Of  Him  who  steers  the  bar<J£of  life  across 
The  stormy  gulf  of  Time ;   yet  there  is  One 
With  watchful  eye — somewhere — at  the  helm. 

(Reprinted  from  "In  Many  Moods.") 
MY  DEATHLESS  SELF 


I'm  dying  aye,  and  yet  not  all  I  die — 

I  recollect  the  things  of  long  ago. 

In  ceaseless  current  through  my  body  flow 
The  earthy  motes  that  halt  so  restlessly 
Upon  the  shores  of  my  mortality, 

And  then  rush  back  with  Nature's  undertow 

To  Nature's  deep  whose  limits  none  can  know : 
'Tis  thus  I'm  dying  aye,  yet  do  not  die, 

That  which  dies  not,  the  deathless  self  of  me, 
Unchanging  is.     'Tis  this  that  hopes  and  loves 

Amid  all  change ;   'tis  this  by  faith  can  see 
The  future  through;    'tis  this  the  bygone  proves 

And  laughs  at  thoughts  of  brief  mortality ; 
My  deathless  self  incarnate  lives  and  moves. 

Fayette,  Mo. 


Mr.  Dudley  Buck,  Organist  and  Composer.  J anu- 
uary   20,    IQ04.. 

There  is  little  basis  for  argument;  for,  as  Shakes- 
peare states  it,  it  eternally  remains  "the  undiscov- 
ered country  from  whose  bourne  no  traveller  returns." 
However,  as  you  ask  my  personal  opinion,  I  say 
emphatically :    "Credo!" 

To  my  mind  all  analogy  (even  to  the  animal  and 
vegetable  kingdoms)  speaks  and  insists  upon  a  life 
after  temporary  death  so-called.    All  savage,  as  well 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  43 

as  civilized  peoples,  have  this  instinct.  It  must  come 
from  some  outside  source,  the  "All-Father."  With 
this  belief  continuous  through  so  many  centuries,  and 
active  and  continuous  to-day,  I  cannot  believe  this 
world  to  be  any  more  than  a  "kindergarten."  There- 
fore it  would  seem  incredible  that  the  intelligence  so 
fostered  and  acquired  should  be  extinguished ;  it  must 
logically  graduate  to  higher  schools. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


William  P.  Frye,  LL.D.,  United  States  Senator  from 
Maine.     January  22,  1904. 

I  have  an  abiding  faith  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


From  John  Watson  Foster,  LL.D.,  Diplomat,  Ex- 
Secretary  of  State.    January  22,  1904. 

I  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  among 
other  reasons,  because  I  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  a 
Divine  Teacher,  and  recognize  his  resurrection  as  a 
historical  fact. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Thomas  D.  Lockwood,  Electrical  Expert  and  Engi- 
neer, Authority  on  Telephony  and  Telegraphy. 
March  27,  1904. 

I  find  it  not  an  easy  task  to  formulate  views — my 
views — on  immortality,  but  I  am  not  unwilling  to  set 
down  a  few  thoughts  on  the  subject. 

Immortality  to  me  is  no  theory,  but  a  living  fact 
— an  absolute  condition.  Something  which  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  science.  A  reality :  more  so,  indeed,  in 
many  ways  than  this  present  life,  which  as  the  years 
pass,  I  find  myself  becoming  more  perfectly  assured  is 
largely  educational  and  preparational. 


44  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

With  Cicero,  I  am  willing  to  say:  "If  I  err  in 
believing  that  the  soul  is  immortal,  I  willingly  err; 
nor  while  I  live  would  I  wish  to  have  this  delightful 
error  extorted  from  me;  and  if  after  death  I  shall 
feel  nothing,  as  some  minute  philosophers  think,  I  am 
not  afraid  lest  dead  philosophers  should  laugh  at  me 
for  the  error."  But  I  am  persuaded  that  our  con- 
victions of  immortality  should  be  indefinitely  more 
sure  than  those  of  Cicero,  and  with  the  great  apostle 
I  consider  that,  "if  in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in 
Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable. " 

I  hold  these  views  neither  in  the  light  of,  or  in 
spite  of  the  operations  and  revelations  of  science;  but 
because  of  the  inward  convictions  of  my  own  life, 
and  because  these  are  in  conformity  with  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Master,  who  said  with  authority  I  fully 
accept:  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life;  he  that 
believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he 
live ;  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall 
never  die." 

Melrose,  Mass. 


Mrs.  Clara  S.  Foltz,  Lawyer,  the  first  woman  admit- 
ted to  the  bar  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  known  as 
"The  Portia   of   the  Pacific.99 ,     February    15, 
1904. 
To  my  mind,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  we  shall 
continue    to    live    "beyond    the    grave."      It    is    a 
desire  of  all  to  continue  to  live,  and  the  desire  itself  is 
in  the  nature  of  proof  that  we  are  immortal. 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 


Prof.  Lewis  Swift,  Ph.D.,  F.  R.  A.  S.     February 

Si     I9°4; 

Yours   asking  if  I   believe  there   is   an   existence 
beyond  the  grave.,  etc.,  is  received.     It  is  a  question 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  45 

of  mighty  import,  and  I  emphatically  answer  yes,  and 
add  that  I  wish  all  astronomers  would  say  the  same. 

I  believe  God  was  the  creator  of  the  universe,  that 
His  son  was  born,  lived,  died,  rose  from  the  tomb, 
and  ascended  to  heaven  as  recorded  in  the  Bible.  I 
believe  the  Bible  to  be  of  divine  origin.  I  believe  that 
as  there  are  two  classes  of  people  here — the  good  and 
the  bad — there  will  be  two  conditions  beyond  the 
grave,  one  for  the  righteous,  and  one  for  the  wicked. 
If  not,  what  will  be  the  difference  between  the  then 
and  the  now? 

I  believe  we  shall  know  each  other  there,  and  that 
the  saints  will  during  an  eternity  that  will  never  end, 
visit  the  worlds  that  gem  night's  concave  vault  that 
the  telescope  descries  in  countless  millions,  suns  every 
one  like  ours,  warming,  lighting,  guiding  and  ferti- 
lizing planets  where  beings  like  ourselves  are  dwell- 
ing, whom  during  the  countless  ages  that  are  to  come, 
we  shall  meet,  and  praise  the  Creator  for  His  good- 
ness and  His  wonderful  works. 

Marathon,  N.  Y. 


Brig.  Gen.FitzhughLee*  United  States  Army.  Feb* 
ruary  j,  1904. 

Replying  to  your  question,  I  write  to  say  that  I 
believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  My  reasons  for 
doing  so  will  be  found  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
First  Corinthians. 

Richmond,  Va. 


Mrs.    Margaret    E.    Sangster,    Editor,    Staff    Con- 
tributor and  Author.     February  6,   19 04. 
In  reply  to  your  letter  asking  me  as  to  my  belief  in 
an  existence  beyond  the  grave,  I  answer  you  that  I 

*Died  April  29,  1905. 


46  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

accept  as  conclusive  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  and 
the  promises  of  immortality  held  out  by  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  When,  He  arose  from  the  grave,  He 
pledged  life  and  immortality  to  all  who  sleep  in 
death.  I  have  no  more  doubt  of  a  future  life  than  I 
have  of  to-morrow's  rising  sun.  Furthermore,  I  do 
not  believe  that  there  is  even  an  interval  of  uncon- 
sciousness in  the  passing  of  the  soul  to  another  room 
in  God's  Universe.  With  the  dropping  of  the  body, 
the  soul  loses  the  handicaps  and  limitations  of  time, 
and  enters  at  once  into  the  joy  and  peace  of  the  life  in 
the  Father's  House. 

Please  do  not  let  me  leave  with  you  the  impression 
that  I  believe  in  death  as  the  purification  and  atone- 
ment of  and  for  all  the  evils  and  sins  of  this  life.  For 
full  salvation  there  is  only  one  way,  and  that  the 
way  of  our  Saviour  who  gave  up  his  life  on  the  cross 
to  be  a  ransom  for  many.  That  all  souls  shall  live 
evermore  I  fully  believe.  That  they  shall  live  ever- 
more in  perfect  happiness  I  also  believe  must  depend 
on  their  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ  as  a  Saviour  while 
they  remain  on  earth. 

Glen  Ridge,  N.  J. 


W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of 
Economics  and  History,  Atlanta  University. 
January  30,  IQ04. 

I  have  a  thousand  years  of  work  laid  out  before 
me.  And  each  year  as  it  flies  leaves  the  vision  of 
another  thousand.  I  should  like  to  live  to  finish  all 
this;  it  seems  reasonable  that  I  should;  I  hope  I 
may. 

Atlanta,  Ga. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  47 

Hon.  Lucius  H.  Foote,  Diplomat,  Secretary  Academy 
of  Sciences  of  San  Francisco.    February  5,  1904. 

If  there  is  no  hereafter,  life  is  incomplete.  I 
believe  in  immortality  because  I  wish  to,  and  no  man 
has  the  right  to  question  my  belief  because  no  man 
can  prove  that  it  is  not  so.  It  is  the  consolation  and 
the  hope  of  mankind,  and  the  one  elevating  and 
restraining  influence  which  regulates  the  world;  with- 
out it — anarchy  and  brutality. 

I  give  you  the  closing  lines  of  a  poem  written  by 
myself  sometime  since : 

I  questioned  my  soul  as  I  stood  by  the  dead; 
My  soul,  in  its  anguish,  made  answer  and  said, — 
No  power  can  destroy,  and  no  fiat  create; 
For  death  is  transition,  and  life  is  a  state, 
The  fruit  of  conditions  coercive  as  fate. 
Each  atom  of  form,  and  each  atom  of  force, 
Exist  as  a  part  of  their  infinite  source; 
And  whether  in  motion,  or  whether  at  rest, 
Must  live,  by  a  law  that  is  never  transgressed. 
This  then  is  the  marvellous  secret  of  death, 
To  live  without  life,  and  to  breathe  without  death. 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 


Miss  Helen  M.  Winslow,  Editor  and  Publisher  The 
Clubzvoman.     February  6,   1904. 

Of  course  I  believe  in  a  future  life,  but  I  haven't 
a  moment's  time  to  write  out  any  reasons  therefor. 

Shirley,  Mass. 


John  Gilmer  Speed,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  Author  and  Edi- 
tor.    February  12,   1904. 
I  have  received  your  request,  and  feel  some  embar- 
rassment in  answering  it.    My  thoughts  have  gener- 


48  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

ally  been  directed  as  to  how  to  live  the  present  life 
without  reference  to  what  is  beyond,  as  I  have  always 
felt  that  that  would  take  care  of  itself.  To  be  sure,  I 
have  always  believed  in  a  future  life;  but  why  I  have 
believed  in  it  is  beyond  me  to  say.  It  is  certainly  not 
on  account  of  what  is  sometimes  called  "revealed  re- 
ligion" ;  it  is  rather  an  instinct  that  is  a  part  of  my  na- 
ture. I  have  never  had  any  messages  that  told  me 
any  more  than  the  primal  man  knew ;  and  he  believed 
as  firmly  as  possible  in  a  future  beyond  this  life.  Now 
I  suspect  a  whole  bench  of  bishops  can  really  know 
no  more  than  this. 

Marcus  Aurelius  said:  uHe  who'  dreads  death 
dreads  either  the  extinction  of  sense  or  a  different  sort 
of  sensation.  But  if  all  sense  is  extinguished,  there 
can  be  no  sense  of  evil;  while  if  sensation  is  trans- 
formed, you  become  another  sort  of  creature  and  do 
not  cease  to  live." 

Mendham,  N.  J. 


Hon.  George  W .  Bartch)  Associate  Justice  Supreme 
Courty  Utah.     February  to,  igo^f. 

Replying  to  your  inquiry  as  to  my  belief  in  an  ex- 
istence beyond  the  grave,  I  wish  to  say  that  I  firm- 
ly believe  we  will  have  an  existence  after  death.  To 
me,  all  Nature  indicates  this,  as  well  as  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  To  live  at  all  is  the  greatest  mystery  of 
all.  To  exist  a  single  day  is,  it  seems  to  me,  more  of  a 
mystery  than  to  exist  throughout  an  eternity.  I  doubt 
not  that  our  God  who  gave  us  life  can  preserve  it  in 
the  hereafter. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN         49 

Mr.  Francis  B.  Reeves,  Merchant,  President  Girard 
National  Bank,  President  Philadelphia  Belt 
Line  R.  R.  Co*  March  24,  1904. 

There  is  a  natural  world  and  there  is  a  spiritual 
world;  first  the  natural,  afterward  the  spiritual.  That 
nothing  is  lost  in  the  natural  world  has  come  to  be 
regarded  as  an  axiom  of  science :  how  can  it  be  other- 
wise than  true  in  the  spiritual  realm  ? 

We  who  believe  that  we  are  heirs  to  immortality, 
that  death  does  not  end  all,  need  not  worry  in  the  least 
because  there  are  some  who  are  wont  to  express  their 
doubts  concerning  it,  simply  because  they  have  not  yet 
seen  the  proof  of  it.  Perhaps  there  always  will  be 
some  who  will  ask,  "How  are  the  dead  raised  up  and 
with  what  body  do  they  come?"  and  others  who  will 
speculate  upon  an  intermediate  state,  and  upon  the 
question  of  recognition  of  loved  ones  in  heaven,  for- 
getting the  necessary  limitations  of  our  terrestrial  ex- 
istence, and  that  such  knowledge  would  be  too  won- 
derful for  our  mundane  understanding  and  accept- 
ance. Why  demand  the  impossible?  How  can  the 
finite  comprehend  the  infinite? 

God  has  implanted  within  man,  in  his  best  estate, 
the  glorious  hope  of  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth 
wherein  dwelleth  righteousness,  thereby  distinguish- 
ing him  above  the  brutes  that  perish.  Whether  they 
who  wilfully  refuse  to  cherish  such  hope,  who  pervert 
God's  grace  and  despise  His  name,  shall  have  place  in 


*Mr.  Reeves  was  commissioned  by  the  Philadelphia  Relief 
Committee  to  visit  Russia,  in  1892,  to  deliver  the  steam- 
ship Conemaugh's  cargo  of  flour  for  the  relief  of  sufferers 
from  famine,  and,  in  recognition  of  his  services,  Emperor 
Alexander  III.  presented  him  with  a  valuable  table  service 
of  gold  and  silver. 


• 


5o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

the  heavenly  kingdom,  need  not  be  discussed.  It  is 
not  for  us  to  settle  such  questions.  I  feel  that  God 
will  be  very  merciful  to  honest  doubters,  and  that  He 
will  deal  justly  with  reprobates. 

We  who  have  this  blessed  hope  as  an  anchor  to  our 
souls  firmly  believe  in  God  and  trust  Him.  More- 
over, we  rest  in  His  Word,  in  which  nothing  is  more 
clearly  taught  than  that  man's  existence  is  intermin- 
able. We  rejoice,  too,  in  the  confident  assurance  that 
God  would  never  have  given  us  this  most  precious  of 
all  hopes  only  to  blast  it  i  this  most  ennobling  of  all 
aspirations  and  these  deep  longings  of  heart  born 
of  a  pure,  undying  love,  only  to  deceive  us.  It  cannot 
be  that  God  would  make  such  ample  and  gracious 
and  loving  provision  for  our  temporal  comfort  and 
enjoyment  for  a  few  brief  years  in  the  flesh,  and  none 
whatever  for  our  souls'  most  sacred  yearnings.  It 
cannot  be  that  a  mother  must  give  up  her  child  at  the 
grave,  never  to  be  reunited  with  it.  If  there  be  no 
union  of  hearts,  fostered  and  made  sacred  here,  that 
is  to  be  perpetuated  there,  then  we  may  properly  ask 
that  question  so  often  foolishly  propounded,  "Is  life 
worth  living?" 

The  hope  of  life  everlasting  is  not  confined  to  the 
professedly  Christian  world,  yet  it  is  in  greatest 
measure  the  Christian's  privilege  to  enjoy  it.  I  speak 
as  a  Christian  to  Christians  when  I  quote  these  preg- 
nant words  of  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles, — "If 
in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all 
men  most  miserable." 

"In  this  life  only" — how  these  words  bring  to  our 
remembrance  the  evils  of  this  present  world,  its  fail- 
ures and  disappointments,  life's  inequalities,  and  the 
incompleteness  of  our  most  valued  worldly  plans  and 
purposes;   and,  more  than  all  else,  the  sufferings  we 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  51 

undergo  when  death  takes  from  us  our  sweetest  and 
best  loved  ones ! 

No,  our  faith  in  Christ  and  in  the  wisdom,  justice, 
mercy  and  love  of  God  enables  us  to  say  with  St. 
Paul.  "We  know  that  if  the  earthly  house  of  our 
tabernacle  be  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  from  God, 
a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens. " 
Faith  takes  a  firm  hold  of  this  "we  know,"  and  will 
not  let  it  go.  This  is  a  gift  that  no  man  nor  devil 
can  take  away  from  us.  The  man  who  believes  only 
what  he  can  see  here  below  is  spiritually  blind.  There 
is  One  only  who  can  open  his  eyes.  "Happy  are 
they  who  have  not  seen  and  yet  have  believed. M 
Blessed  are  they  who,  through  spiritual  discernment, 
born  of  God,  have  a  firmer  hold  upon  the  spiritual 
world  than  the  natural,  to  whom  life  beyond  the 
grave  is  no  less  real  than  are  their  carnal  pleasures, 
appetites,  passions  and  employments;  for  to  them 
this  undying  hope  is  immeasurably  more  satisfying 
than  are  all  the  world's  evanescent  joys,  while  it 
brings  to1  them  when  sorrows  assail  them,  the  sweet- 
est relief  and  comfort. 

"Still  seems  it  strange  that  thou  shouldst  live  for- 
ever? 
Is  it  less  strange  that  thou  shouldst  live  at  all  ? 
This  is  a  miracle :  and  that  no  more." 

Can   it  be? 
Matter  immortal?    And  shall  Spirit  die? 
Above  the  nobler,  shall  less  noble  rise? 
Shall  man  alone,  for  whom  all  else  revives, 
No  resurrection  know  ?    Shall  man  alone, 
Imperial  Man !  be  sown  in  barren  ground, 
Less  privileged  than  grain  on  which  he  feeds? 
Germantown,  Pa. 


52  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Thomas  Ball,  A.  M.,  Sculptor,     January  ig,  igo^. 

I  have  a  firm  belief  in  a  life  beyond  the  grave; 
because  I  believe  in  a  Supreme  Being  who  rules  and 
directs  the  universe.  My  reasons  for  the  latter  belief 
may  be  found  in  everything  pertaining  to  this  beauti- 
ful world,  from  the  humblest  flower  of  the  field  to  the 
starry  firmament. 

Scientists  and  philosophers  may  find  reasons  suf- 
ficient for  their  own  unbelief,  but  not  for  mine. 

Montclair,  N.  J. 


Mr,  Hezekiah  Butterzvorth,  Author  and  Editor. 
January  20,   1904* 

I  am  taking  an  interest  in  your  book.  It  is  a  thing 
needed ;  nothing  could  be  more  timely  and  interest- 
ing. Where  are  we  now  ?  Whither  are  we  drifting  ? 
The  metaphysical  and  psycomath  clubs  here  tend  to 
Kant's  conclusion,  uThe  spirit  is  the  only  reality." 

I  believe  in  spiritual  laws  of  the  soul.  To  obey  the 
divine  laws  of  one's  own  soul  is  to  secure  the  largest 
results  possible  to  life.  When  the  change  of  death 
destroys  the  objective  life,  it  leaves  us  to  the  sub- 
jective life,  and  we  follow  spiritual  gravitation. 

My  views  are  those  of  Emmanuel  Kant  in  his 
" Critique  of  Practical  Reason,"  and  of  Fichte  in  his 
"Way  to  the  Blessed  Life." 

Boston,  Mass. 


Mr.  Henry  Dexter,  Founder  of  the  American  News 
Company.  January  21,  1904. 
I  pin  my  faith  to  the  words  of  the  Saviour  found  in 
John  XIV.2,  3.  uIn  my  Father's  house  are  many 
mansions;  if  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you. 
I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you. 


*Died  Sept  5,  1905. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  53 

uAnd  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will 
come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  myself  that  where  I 
am,  there  ye  may  be  also." 

New  York  City. 


Nathan  Haskell  Dole,  A.  M.,  Author  and  Literary 
Adviser,  President  Omar  Khayyam  Society  of 
America,  and  of  Bibliophile  Society.  February 
12,  1904. 

I  look  forward  to  death  with  far  higher  anticipa- 
tion than  to  any  earthly  journey.  To  get  rid  of  the 
limitations  of  the  flesh,  to  be  a  spiritual  body  not 
dependent  on  food  or  on  drink  or  an  exasperatingly 
tedious  means  of  locomotion,  is  realization  of  free- 
dom after  slavery.  The  attitude  of  the  Christian 
world  toward  death  is  a  perpetual  arraignment  of  the 
faith  which  is  held  up  as  divine.  If  Christianity  offers 
anything  better  than  paganism  promised,  we  should 
rejoice  at  the  death  of  those  who  were  called,  realiz- 
ing that  they  are  escaping  manifold  sorrow  and  pain. 
All  the  mourning  emblems,  the  trappings  of  woe, 
now  attendant  on  death,  especially  at  the  passing  on 
of  the  aged  and  the  incurably  diseased,  show  that  men 
are  still  barbarians. 

And  yet  immortality  is  only  a  hope.  Science 
upholds  it,  in  as  far  as  science  declares  that  no  force 
is  lost.  The  cutting  off  of  a  human  being  or  even  of 
an  animal  in  the  full  tide  of  its  powers,  simply  means 
(in  terms  of  our  mechanical  knowledge)  that  the 
energy  is  transmuted.  Does  consciousness  accompany 
this  transformation  ?  When  the  corporeal  cells  which 
contain  our  life  decay  is  it  conceivable  that  memory 
preserves  the  past?  In  the  case  of  most  men,  this 
perpetuity  of  remembrance  would  be  no  joy.  Is  it  not 
more  in  accordance  with  what  we  know  that  death 
should  be  rather  a  new  birth?  The  spiritual  body 
born  into  new  conditions  will  be  the  child,  as  it  were, 


54  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

of  the  dead;  just  as  a  baby  born  after  its  father's 
death  and  immediately  left  an  orphan  looks  like  its 
father  and  mother,  acts  like  its  father  and  mother, 
and  yet  can  have  no  recollection  of  either.  Coming 
into  new  relations  with  those  that  had  passed  on 
before,  it  would  form  connections  on  parallel  lines, 
and  be  as  happy  as  if  it  renewed  old  friendships  and 
loves.  Such  thoughts  are  to  me  a  comfort  in  a  mate- 
rialistic and  skeptical  age.  At  all  events,  I  have  no 
fear  of  the  beneficent  outcome  of  either  life  or  death. 
Boston,  Mass. 


Henry  Churchill  King,  B.  D.,  A.  M.,  D.  D.,  Presi- 
dent Oberlin  College.     February  8,  1904. 

I  have  a  firm  conviction  in  existence  beyond  the 
grave;  for  without  this  conviction  I  should  hardly 
be  able  to  believe  that  the  world  was  a  truly  rational 
world,  in  the  broad  sense  of  that  term.  This  gen- 
eral consideration  includes  for  me  many  particular 
arguments  into  which  I  need  not  go. 

Oberlin,   O. 


Hon.  Henry  B.  Metcalf,  Manufacturer,  President 
Corporation  of  Tufts  College.     February   n, 
1904* 
Do  I  believe  in  life  beyond  the  grave  ? 
Emphatically,  yes ! 

I  have  never  yet  heard  an  argument  to  the  con- 
trary that  commanded  respect. 
Pawtucket,  R.  L 


Mrs.    Lodusky    J.    Taylor,    Ex-President   National 
Woman's  Relief  Corps.    February  16,  1904. 
I  have  not  time  to  write  a  lengthy  article  on  the 
subject,  but  I  want  to  say  that  I  believe  most  sincerely 

*Died  1904. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  55 

in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  and  He, 
having  died  and  risen  from  the  dead,  has  prepared 
the  way  for  us.  He  has  also  promised  to  prepare  a 
home  for  us,  and  I  believe  that  the  teachings  of  God's 
holy  word  bear  out  every  thought  of  a  life  here- 
after. 

Le  Sueur,  Minn. 


Hon.  Miguel  Otero,  Governor  of  New  Mexico.  Feb- 
ruary 25,  1904. 

I  personally  believe  implicitly  in  the  immortality 
of  the  soul.  The  very  fact  of  such  belief  prohibits  the 
giving  of  reasons;  for  implicit  belief  and  faith  are 
above  and  beyond  all  reason.  This  faith  and  belief 
is  as  old  as  humanity  itself,  and  has  no  connection 
with  so-called  religious  creeds,  denominations  or 
sects.  It  is  the  divine  heritage  alike  of  the  primeval 
savage  in  his  cave  or  lair  and  of  the  latest  product 
of  advanced  civilization  in  the  most  cultured  homes. 
It  is  the  holy  spirit  of  God,  given  us  as  the  perfume 
is  to  the  flower,  its  brilliance  to  the  diamond,  and  the 
intangible  soul  and  conscience  to  the  body.  None  of 
these  can  be  weighed  in  the  nicest  balance  constructed 
by  human  skill,  or  measured  by  the  minutest  stand- 
ards devised  by  the  greatest  scientists,  any  more  than 
can  that  mighty  force  which  rules  the  world, — has 
changed  its  course  in  history,  has  made  and  unmade 
dynasties,  and  is  the  foundation  not  only  of  the  home 
but  of  the  nation,  and  all  that  makes  humanity  the 
better, — that  unseen,  indefinable,  intangible  gift  of 
the  Almighty  which  we  call  Love. 

No  reasons  can  be  given  for  these,  and  no  finite 
mind  can  explain  or  account  for  any  of  them.  It  may 
be  that  by  a  persistent  course  of  "reason,"  men  may 
dwarf  their  capacity  for  the  immortality  that  is  theirs 
by  divine  right,  and  become  as  the  beasts  that  per- 


56  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

ish;  but  this  can  only  be  accomplished  by  wilful  per- 
version of  their  gifts. 
Santa  Fet  N.  M. 


Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  President  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association.  March 
2,  1904. 

I  believe  in  an  after  life.  The  instinct  within  us 
compels  us  to  believe  that  our  existence  cannot  ter- 
minate here,  and  the  injustices  of  this  world  require 
the  justice  of  another  world  to  equalize  human  expe- 
riences. 

New  York  City. 


Robert  Treat  Paine,  A.  M.,  Philanthropist,  Presi- 
dent Associated  Charities  of  Boston,  the  Amer- 
ican Peace  Society,  and  other  Associations.  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1904. 

I  believe  in  life  beyond  the  grave  as  firmly  as 
I  believe  that  I  live.  The  greatest  thing  in  the  world 
is  love.  God  who  has  created  the  world  must  be 
greater  than  any  part  or  the  whole  of  His  creation, 
therefore  God  must  be  a  God  of  love  more  perfectly 
than  any  force  of  love  which  human  imagination  can 
conceive. 

Now  the  human  soul  has  grown  by  the  evolution  of 
ages  to  believe  in  and  to  rely  on  a  future  life,  and  it  is 
not  conceivable  that  evolution  can,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  an  infinite  Creator  and  Ruler,  teach  a  lie, 
therefore  absolute  faith  in  a  future  life  must  be 
entirely  beyond  all  question. 

Boston,  Mass. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  57 

Hon.  James  H.  Peabody,  Governor  of  Colorado. 
February  gy  1904. 

I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that  my  great  comfort 
in  my  daily  work  and  employment  is  a  firm  belief 
in  the  Apostles'  Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer.  That 
there  is  an  existence  beyond  the  grave  is  to  my  mind 
above  and  beyond  speculation;  for,  believing  in  the 
promises  contained  in  the  Word  of  God,  I  can  readily 
believe  the  promise  and  find  comfort  therein,  that 
"We  shall  meet  them  and  know  them  face  to  face;" 
so  that  when  we  are  separated  from  our  dear  ones  by 
the  sudden  approach  of  death,  I  know  that  such  sep- 
aration is  not  final. 

This  belief  should  soften  our  sorrow  into  most  ten- 
der recollections,  and  if  we  so  believe  we  can  derive 
much  comfort  from  the  lingering  sweetness  of  a 
present  great  bereavement.  uThy  kingdom  come, 
Thy  will  be  done,"  contains  a  statement  of  our  belief 
as  well  as  a  supplication  to  Almighty  God. 

This,  briefly,  is  my  belief,  and  my  reason  for  such 
belief. 

Denver,  Colo. 


R.  H.-Dana,  LL.D.,  Lawyer  and  Political  Reformer. 
January  28,  1904. 

I  believe  in  a  future  life.  While  this  belief  is  not 
susceptible  of  positive  proof,  neither  is  the  opposite 
belief. 

Though  not  susceptible  of  positive  proof,  my 
belief  is  in  accord  with  the  probabilities  in  the  case 
as  pretty  well  established  by  the  latest  and  highest 
metaphysical  philosophy.  To  be  sure,  some  eminent 
scientists,  going  out  of  their  own  specialty  and  dab- 
bling in  the  deeper  questions  without  any  adequate 
training  in  or  even  conception  of  the  results  already 
attained  in  metaphysics,  have  led  many  people  to  a 


58  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

disbelief  in  the  future  life.  The  mistake  has  been  in 
treating  an  authority  in  one  line  as  an  authority  in  a 
wholly  different  line;  in  trusting  the  navigation  of  a 
steamship  with  its  freight  and  lives  to  a  man  because 
he  is  an  expert  in  botany. 
Cambridge,  Mass. 


E.  M.  Gallaudet,  B.  S..  LL.D.,  Ph.D.,  President 
Gallaudet  College  for  the  Deaf.     February  i, 

I  was  brought  up  by  Christian  parents  to  believe  in 
an  individual  immortality.  I  have  cherished  that  be- 
lief, and  hold  it  now  at  a  point  in  life  when  I  have 
reason  to  expect  to  face  the  future  beyond  the  grave 
within  a  very  few  years. 

One  great  reason  for  my  belief  in  a  future  life  is 
that  all  the  facts  of  consciousness  point  to  a  continu- 
ance of  the  life  of  the  soul  beyond  the  death  of  the 
body,  rather  than  to  its  destruction  at  death;  and  I 
feel  that  the  burden  of  proof  against  this  idea  lies 
with  those  who  object  to  it,  so,  as  we  have  no  proof 
that  death  ends  all,  I  am  disposed  to  believe  that  the 
individual  life  will  continue  beyond  the  grave. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Edward  S.  Ellis,  A.  M.,  Author.    April  75,  IQ04. 

I  have  never  for  one  moment  felt  the  most 
shadowy  doubt  of  the  immortality  of  our  existence. 
And  yet  that  is  no  argument  in  favor  of  an  endless 
life  beyond  the  grave.  As  yet,  this  faith  or  truth  has 
not  been  scientifically  demonstrated,  but  I  believe  that 
among  the  marvelous  achievements  of  the  present 
century  will  be  such  scientific  proof,  which  will  be 
given  to  man  in  the  fulness  of  God's  own  time.  Such 
belief  on  my  part  constitutes  no  argument,  for  I  may 
err. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  59 

It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  sound  reason  is  on 
the  side  of  a  belief  in  our  immortality.  Myriads  of 
men  and  women  have  died  when  on  the  threshold  of 
a  career  of  usefulness  and  triumph.  What  is  more 
reasonable  than  that  their  work  is  to  be  carried  on  in 
conditions  that  are  perfectly  adapted  to  such  devel- 
opment? 

The  most  learned  person  I  ever  knew  was  the  late 
Gen.  P.  S.  Michie,  Senior  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics at  the  West  Point  Military  Academy.  He 
once  said  to  me:  "I  claim  to  be  a  scientific  man  and, 
as  such,  I  no  more  doubt  my  future  existence  and  that 
I  shall  go  forward  with  the  work  I  am  doing  so 
imperfectly  in  this  world,  than  I  doubt  that  you  are 
sitting  in  that  chair."  Gladstone  said  that  in  the 
course  of  his  long  life,  he  had  come  in  close  contact 
with  sixty  of  the  greatest  minds  in  the  world,  and 
fifty-four  of  them  were  profound  believers  in  immor- 
tality. I  am  not  yet  prepared  to  proclaim  that  this 
array,  not  including  the  multitude  whom  no  man  can 
number,  were  or  are  fools. 

May  it  not  be  claimed  as  scientifically  true  that 
when  the  inert  elements  that  are  as  dead  as  a  stone 
or  fossil  feel  that  first  fluttering  throb  of  the  mys- 
terious, incomprehensible  something  which  we  call 
life,  that  life  must  already  have  been  in  existence  in 
order  to  enter  into  the  body?  Is  it  not  equally  true 
that  when  the  body  dies,  its  life  goes  somewhere? 
It  therefore  existed  before  the  formation  of  its 
earthly  tabernacle,  exists  afterward,  and  exists  for- 
ever. 

Montclair,  A7".  /. 


6o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Mr.  William  Hamilton  Hayne,  Author.  February 
10,  IQO4. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  belief  in  immortality  arises 
from  the  deepest  instincts  of  the  soul,  and  is  illum- 
inated by  faith,  and  supported  by  reason.  As  Bayard 
Taylor  once  wrote  my  father,  with  regard  to  the 
future  life:     "It  is  proven  by  its  own  needs." 

I  inclose  a  quatrain,  which  was  published  in  The 
Sunday  School  Tunes,  of  Philadelphia,  and  will  give 
you  my  view  of  this  subject  from  one  of  its  many 
standpoints. 

FLOWER  AND  THORN. 

Twin  miracle  of  joy  and  gloom, — 

Pain-circled  yet  divine  decree: 
Death  is  the  thorn  o'er  which  doth  bloom 

The  flower  of  immortality. 
Augusta,  Ga. 


Hon.  J.  G.  McCullough,  Governor  of  Vermont  and 
President  Chicago  and  Erie  R.  R.     February 
9,  1904.  < 
The  best  evidence  that  there  is  a  life  beyond  the 
grave  is  that  such  a  belief  has  obtained  among  most 
of  the  races  of  men  during  many  ages  of  the  past. 
North  Bennington,  Vt. 


Laurence  Hutton,  A.  M.,  Author  and  Lecturer.  Feb- 
ruary 9,  1904* 
In  reply  to  your  question,  I  send  you  a  quotation 
from    my    "Literary    Landmarks   of   Oxford,"    pp. 

"And  there  are  men  still  living  who  would  like 

*Died  June  10,   1904. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  61 

to  have  known  Charles  Lamb  in  the  flesh.  There  is 
one  man  still  living  in  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  who 
when  he  has  kissed  his  Father  and  his  Mother — in 
the  spirit — when  he  has  patted  his  dogs,  and  has 
talked  with  his  friends,  is  going  to  hang  around 
the  Golden  Staircase  until  he  can  catch  the 
eyes  of  Charles  Lamb  and  of  Mary  Lamb,  the  sister 
of  Charles." 

Princeton,  N.  J. 


Mrs.  Margaret  Bottome,  Author,  President  Interna- 
tional Order  of  the  King's  Daughters  and  Sons. 
January  20,  1904. 

"If  you  believe  there  is  an  existence  beyond  the 
grave,  will  you  be  good  enough  to  send  me  an  expres- 
sion on  the  subject. " 

The  above  has  just  reached  me — I  am  smiling  as  I 
write — to  me  the  existence  of  the  life  beyond  the 
grave  seems  more  than  a  belief — I  have  eternal  life. 
My  immortal  life  has  commenced,  and  death  will  be 
only  an  incident  in  my  life. 

"Love  is  everything  and  death  is  naught,"  Brown- 
ing wrote;  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  "The  other 
room"  will  be  very  lovely. 

Yours  in  this  faith. 

New  York  City. 


Henry  E.  Pellew,  M.  A.,  Philanthropist,  President 
Society  for  Improving  Condition  of  Poor,  Sani- 
tary Reform,  St.  George's,  etc.     February  12, 
1904. 
Being  a  firm  believer  in  the  truths  of  the  Gospel, 
and  able  conscientiously  to  accept  the  deductions  from 
it  as  guides  to  our  spiritual  and  temporal  conduct  in 
this  state  of  existence,  I  have  never  doubted  that  my 
life  would  not  end  with  the  grave. 


62  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

At  the  same  time  the  sense  of  personal  responsi- 
bility and  the  conception  of  what  immortality  must  be 
—  %<ori  alcovios  — existence  through  all  eons — so 
overwhelm  my  weak  finite  powers  of  imagination 
that  I  dare  not  discuss  such  a  future  or  what  it  may 
mean.  Others  may  do  so  and  picture  a  condition  of 
hereafter  which  pleases  their  fancy  and  their  ideas  of 
heaven.  To  me  it  is  all  a  great  mystery.  In  my 
code  of  ethics,  the  body  with  its  directing  will  power 
perishes  at  death,  while  the  spiritual  essence,  then 
freed  from  its  mortal  cover,  enters  on  an  eternal 
existence.  As  a  Christian,  I  believe  in  Christ's  God- 
head and  Manhood,  and  that  only  through  his  incar- 
nation are  salvation  and  freedom  from  the  effect  of 
sin  obtainable. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Mrs.  Caroline  M.  Severance,  Writer  and  Philan- 
thropist, "The  Mother  of  Women's  Clubs." 
April  18,  IQ04. 
The  doubts  which  would  intrude  and  clamor  for 
solution,  in  earlier  years,  touching  the  question  of 
life  beyond  the  grave,  have,  with  the  earnest  thought 
of  later  years,  been  met  by  the  facts  not  only  of  the 
universal  intimations  and  unquenchable  hope  and 
desire  of  the  human  soul,  on  which  Wordsworth  and 
Emerson  so  largely  based  their  belief  in  a  future  life, 
— but  the  other  fact  of  the  moral  order  of  life  as  we 
know  it  on  this  earth :  that  without  its  continuity  and 
continued  development,  the  universe  would  seem  to 
our  intelligence  a  chaos,  a  fatuitous  concurrence  of 
atoms,  albeit  atoms  of  superb  endowment,  and  capac- 
ity to  conquer  and  ennoble  one  life,  and  grasp 
another  by  the  splendid  reach  of  such  faculties.  A 
more  astounding  miracle  and  problem  than  its  alter- 
native.     Confirmed,    also,   by  the  other   fact:   that 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN         63 

Science  in  proving  for  us  the  conservation  of  energy 
and  the  indestructibility  of  matter  has  proven  beyond 
denial  the  immortality  of  the  spirit, — the  power 
which  creates,  reorganizes,  and  controls  matter,  even 
through  the  hands  of  "finite  man," — perhaps  falsely 
so-called. 

These  considerations  form  the  basis  of  my  belief  in 
a  life  beyond  the  grave,  to  which  our  own  "sacred 
book,"  and  those  of  all  previous  and  living  nations, 
bear  testimony.  And  my  hope  is  that  that  life  may 
not  be  a  reabsorption  by  its  infinite  and  original 
source,  as  many  thinkers  believe;  but  a  life  of  con- 
scious personality,  to  develop  and  enjoy  through  end- 
less ages,  passing  from  glory  to  glory,  and  from  star 
to  star  of  the  boundless  firmament  above  and  about 
us.  That  "the  best  is  yet  to  be,"  I  am  sure — not  only 
there,  but  on  this  beautiful,  bountiful  planet  of  ours, 
wrought  out  by  the  noble  manhood  and  womanhood 
of  our  time  and  of  all  coming  time — the  redemption 
of  all  peoples  from  the  blight  of  injustice  and  oppres- 
sion, into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God, 
the  Father  of  all.  Let  us  all  be  diligent  in  helping 
to  speed  that  day ! 

Los  Angeles,  CaL  ■ 


Mr.  Ernest  Howard  Crosby,  Author  and  Social  Re- 
former.    January  22,  1904. 

I  believe  that  when  we  give  ourselves  up  to  the 
feeling  of  universal  love  for  all  things  we  become  con- 
scious of  an  immortal  centre  of  life  within  us  which 
transcends  time  and  space.  But  I  would  not  attempt 
to  define  further  this  immortality. 

The  ordinary  Christian  argument  based  upon  the 
testimony  of  witnesses  to  the  appearance  of  Christ 
after  his  crucifixion  seems  to  be  condemned  by  Christ 
himself  in  the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus, 


64  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

for  Abraham  there  says:  "If  they  hear  not  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  neither  will  they  be  persuaded 
though  one  rose  from  the  dead."  (Luke  XVI.  31). 
What  Christ  meant  by  "Moses  and  the  prophets"  He 
makes  sufficiently  clear  in  another  place:  "Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and 
with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the 
first  and  great  commandment.  And  the  second  is 
like  unto  it:  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy- 
self. On  these  commandments  hang  all  the  law  and 
the  prophets."  (Matt.  XXII.37-40). 
New  York  City. 


Mrs.  Sara  J.  Lippincott,  ("Grace  Greenwood")  Au- 
thor.    February   14,   1904. 

I  have  seen  a  good  deal  of  spiritualism  and  believe 
firmly  in  it — at  times:  yet  my  prayer  is,  "Lord,  I 
believe,  help  Thou  mine  unbelief."  My  feeling  of 
late,  in  the  midst  of  sorrow,  is  expressed  in  the 
enclosed  poem,  which  I  hope  will  answer  your  pur- 
pose.* 

New  Rochelle.  N.  Y. 


Rear-Admiral  John  Lowe,  U.  S.  N.}  retired.  March 
26,  igof. 

I  find  it  quite  impossible  to  say  all  that  I  would  like 
to  say,  within  the  compass  of  a  short  letter  such  as 
this,  so  that  I  must  content  myself  with  these  few 
words : 

Human  intellect  is  not  sufficient  of  itself  to  dis- 
cover any  abstract  truth.  To  discover  the  truth  of 
the  present,  we  need  experiment;  to  discover  the 
truths  of  the  past,  we  need  history;    to  discover  the 


*See  page  259,  Part  III.     "Grace  Greenwood"  died  April 
20,    1 904. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  65 

truths  of  the  future,  we  need  absolutely — REVELA- 
TION. 

I  have  small  patience  with  those  who  judge  of  the 
past,  or  predict  upon  the  future,  with  knowledge 
gained  solely  in  the  present.  Idolatry,  Witchcraft, 
Transmigration  of  Souls,  Spiritualism,  Evolution, 
and  the  like,  are  the  best  that  such  men  can  pro- 
duce. 

The  Bible,  the  Prayer  Book,  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and 
the  Church  Catechism  are  good  enough  for  me,  who 
only  claim  to  be  an  ordinary  man  of  average  intel- 
ligence. These  authorities  are  sufficient  for  me,  to 
give  me  faith,  hope  and  charity.  Let  those  who  have 
extraordinary  intellect  discard  the  Word  of  God,  and 
put  their  trust  in  their  superabundant  intellectuality, 
— I  will  not. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Rear-Admiral  N.  von  H.  Farquhar,  U.  S.  N.}  retired. 
February    ig}    190.4.. 
I  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 
Washington,  D.  C. 


Hon.  Henry  C.  McWhorter,  Judge  Supreme  Court 
of  Appeals,  West  Virginia.     March  21,  1904. 

Do  I  believe  in  an  existence  beyond  the  grave?  I 
have  no  more  doubt  of  that  fact  than  I  have  of  my 
existence  now  and  here. 

First:  The  intense  yearning  and  longing  of  my 
whole  being  for  something  higher  and  nobler  and  bet- 
ter than  can  be  attained  in  this  life,  tells  me  unmistak- 
ably that  something  awaits  me  beyond  this  present 
life. 

Second:  I  believe  in  an  infinite  intelligence — a 
personal  God,  Maker  and  Preserver  of  all  things, 


66  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

who  has  a  purpose  in  the  creation  of  all  intelligent 
beings,  and  if  this  life  "ends  all'  that  purpose  must 
be  thwarted.  While  this  life  is  one  of  progression  it 
does  not  here  reach  perfection,  and  perfection  in  His 
economy  must  be  attained,  or  the  Divine  government 
is  a  failure.  What  His  purpose  is  in  placing  us  here 
we  may  not  understand,  but  infinite  wisdom  so<  or- 
dained it. 

Third:  He  has  revealed  the  fact  in  his  written 
word,  that  we  shall  be  clothed  with  immortality 
when  done  with  this  mortal  life,  and  through  His 
Son  Jesus,  the  Christ,  life  and  immortality  are 
brought  to  light,  and  because  He  lives  I  shall  live 
also. 

Charleston,  West  Va. 


Mrs.  Alice  Hegan  Rice,  Author.  February  12, 
1904. 

I  do  believe,  absolutely,  in  an  existence  beyond  the 
grave.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  reason  with  me,  but  of 
faitH.  I  believe  in  an  all-wise  and  merciful  God,  a 
God  who-  takes  up  the  poor  broken  threads  of  this  life 
and  weaves  them  into  His  great  design  in  the  world  to 
come. 

Louisville,  Ky. 


Miss  Frances  Campbell  Sparhawk,  Author,  Organ- 
izer Indian  Industries  League.      March    14, 
1904. 
I  believe  with  all  my  heart  in  the   future   life. 
Nature  is  full  of  hints  and  tokens  of  changes  of  form 
without  loss  of  identity.     Electricity,  the  soul  of  the 
earth,  clothes  itself  in  many  shapes  at  will.     Under 
many  guises  is  revealed  to  us  that  might  which  is  the 
motive  power  of  matter  and  which  through  all  forms 
is  the  same  force.    To  imagine  this  life  without  im- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  67 

mortality  is  to  imagine  the  earth  with  no  sky  over 
it  to  vivify  it  and  bring  the  resurrection  of  the  year 
from  the  sleep  of  winter.  Yet  of  all  reasons  the  deep- 
est and  of  all  faith  the  strongest  is  that  by  which 
we  of  right  say  to  God,  "Our  Father"  and  to  the  risen 
Christ,  uOur  Brother." 
Newton  Centre,  Mass. 

Hon.  A.  J.  McLaurin,  United  States  Senator  from 
Mississippi.     February   15,    1904. 

I  cheerfully  answer  your  question:  I  believe  there  is 
an  existence  beyond  the  grave.  It  is  as  true  that  there 
is  an  eternal  life  as  that  there  is  a  God.  I  have  quit 
arguing  that  there  is  a  God  and  a  continuation  of  life 
beyond  this  world.  The  Bible  teaches  both,  and  I 
have  no  argument  for  any  one  who  denies  the  Bible. 

Brandon,  Miss. 


Hon.  Fenimore  Chatterton,  Governor  of  Wyoming. 
March  7,  1904. 

I  regret  that  I  have  not  time  to  write  at  greater 
length,  but  in  response  to  your  query  I  desire  to  say 
that  I  most  emphatically  and  unequivocally  believe 
in  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

Cheyenne,  Wyo. 

Newton  H.  Winchell,  Editor  American   Geologist, 

Ex-President   Geological  Society    of   America. 

May  1,   IQ04. 

The  existence  of  almost  a  universal  hope  and  faith 

in  a  future  life,  irrespective  of  Biblical  teaching,  is 

one  of  the  strongest  evidences  of  such  future  life.     It 

may  be  that  the  spiritual  bodies  which  we  shall  have 

at  the  resurrection  will  be  widely  different  from  those 

which  we  now  possess,  and  so  etherealized  that,  so 

far  as  we  can  define  them  in  our  limited  senses,  they 


68  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

will  consist  essentially  of  consciousness,  a  subtile  inter- 
action of  forces  which  are  entirely  elusive  to  our  pres- 
ent corporeal  existence. 

The  following  was  undoubtedly  written  by  my 
brother,  Alexander  Winchell,  who  died  in  1891: 
uThe  unseen  world  is  destined  to  become  like  a  newly- 
discovered  continent.  We  shall  visit  it;  we  shall 
hold  communion  with  it;  we  shall  wonder  how  so 
many  thousand  years  could  have  passed  without  our 
being  introduced  to  it.  We  shall  learn  of  other 
modes  of  existence — intermediate,  perhaps,  between 
body  and  spirit — having  the  forms  and  limitations 
in  space  peculiar  to  matter,  with  the  penetrability  and 
invisibility  of  spirit.  And  who  can  say  that  we  may 
not  yet  obtain  such  knowledge  of  the  modes  of 
existence  of  other  bodies  as  to  discover  the  means  of 
rendering  them  visible  to  our  bodily  eyes,  as  we  now 
hold  conversation  with  a  friend  upon  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific,  or  in  the  heart  of  Europe,  or  fly  with  the 
superhuman  velocity  of  the  wind  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Mississippi  valley?  Then  may  we  not  at  last 
gaze  upon  the  spiritual  bodies  in  which  our  departed 
friends  reside,  and  discover  the  means  of  listening  to 
their  spirit  voices,  and  join  hands  consciously  with  the 
heavenly  host?" 

Minneapolis,  Minn. 


Nathan  Smith  Davis,  M.  D.,  A.  M.,  LL.D.,  Phy- 
sician,  "Father  of  the  American  Medical  As- 
sociation."   January  22,  1904* 
I  am  happy  to  say  I  believe  that  for  man  there  is 
an  endless  life  beyond  the  grave,  as  taught  by  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  disciples.     And  that  there  is  an  ever 

*Died  1904. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  69 

living  and  all  wise  Creator  of  the  world,  as  set  forth 
by  Moses  and  the  prophets. 

(Note.  On  the  fifth  of  October,  1901,  a  testi- 
monial banquet  was  given  in  honor  of  the  venerable 
Dr.  Davis,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Chicago  Medi- 
cal Society,  and  three  hundred  and  fifty  physicians 
were  present.  In  his  speech  accepting  a  beautiful 
Grecian  loving  cup,  which  was  inscribed  to  him  as 
"Pioneer  in  local  and  national  medical  organization, 
and  in  graded  medical  instruction, "  the  doctor  used 
these  words: 

"Never  pull  down,  but  build  up.  You  will  soon 
establish  harmony;  you  will  soon  have  cordiality; 
you  will  have  your  own  heart  free,  and  your  con- 
science will  be  right  before  your  God.  You  will  have 
enemies  neither  here  nor  hereafter.  I  know  no  ene- 
mies here  to-night;  I  have  no  enemies;  I  am  satis- 
fied with  life.  I  am  sometimes  lonesome  because  I  so 
rarely  meet  one  of  my  early  comrades — lonesome 
because  they  are  gone.  But  I  am  going  to  join  them 
before  long.  I  do  not  expect  to  tarry  a  great  while. 
But  I  have  no  care  about  that.  I  live  so  that  I  am 
ready  each  day  to  go.") 

Chicago,  III. 


Mr.  Palmer  Cox,  Artist  and  Author.     January  23, 
1904. 

Yes,  I  believe  in  an  existence  beyond  the  grave. 
That  belief  was  implanted  in  me  at  my  mother's 
knee,  nourished  at  my  father's  family  prayers,  and 
strengthened  by  confirmation  and  Holy  Communion. 
Time,  I  am  happy  to  say,  only  serves  to  deepen  my 
belief. 

Brownieland   (East  quo  guet  N.  Y.) 


7o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Robert  Grant  Aitken,  A.  M.,  Astronomer  at  Lick 
Observatory,  Editor  Publications  of  the  Astro- 
nomical Society  of  the  Pacific.  March  n,  1904. 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  declaring  myself  a  firm 
believer  in  immortality,  though  I  hardly  feel  that  I 
am  entitled  to  give  evidence  from  the  standpoint  of 
an  astronomer,  as  my  faith  antedates  by  many  years 
my  connection  with  an  observatory.  My  belief  in  a 
future  life  is  therefore  not  due  to  my  astronomical 
studies  or  observations,  for  these  concern  themselves 
with  life  only  in  that  broad  sense  in  which  motion  and 
change  due  to  the  action  of  physical  forces  may  be 
considered  as  life. 

The  important  point  is  that  my  studies  have  not 
weakened  my  faith  but,  rather,  have  strengthened 
it  by  strengthening  my  belief  in  the  existence  of  an 
Infinite  Creative  Mind.  I  cannot  believe  that  the 
human  mind  that  "thinks  the  thoughts  of  God  after 
Him"  can  be  other  than  immortal.  As  you  see,  my 
confidence  rests  not  upon  knowledge,  but  upon  faith. 
Science  has  not  given  and,  I  think,  will  never  give 
any  answer  to  the  question,  uIs  man  immortal  ?" 
But  one  who  believes  that  the  answer  to  this  question 
is  "Yes,"  will  find  his  faith  grow  stronger  and  not 
weaker  by  the  study  of  the  heavens, — for  to  him  they 
declare  the  glory  of  God. 

Mt.  Hamilton,  Cat. 


Andrew  J.  Montague,  B.  L.,  Governor  of  Virginia. 
February   27,    1904. 

Replying  to  your  letter,  I  beg  to  say  that  I  am  a 
believer  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

If  my  poor  name  will  be  of  any  service  as  identify- 
ing myself  with  this  belief,  I  shall  be  thankful. 

Richmond,  Fa. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  71 

Hon.  Charles  B.  Aycock,  Governor  of  North  Caro- 
lina.    March   i}   IQ04. 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter,  and  in  reply  beg  to 
say  that  I  do  believe  in  immortality. 

Raleigh,  N.  C. 


Mr.  Anthony  Cotnstock,  Secretary  and  Special  Agent 
New  York  Society  for  Suppression  of  Vice. 
January  23,  IQ04. 

Your  inquiry  is  received  in  my  sick  room,  where  I 
have  been  confined  since  Dec.  21,  1903.  Since  that 
date  I  have  been  not  only  upon  the  border-land,  but 
down  into  what  seemed  to  be  "the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death." 

Is  there  a  person  living  in  this  fair  land  of  ours 
that  doubts  existence  beyond  the  grave  ?  That  is  the 
surprising   thing. 

Why  do  I  believe?  "For  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  sent  His  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 
believeth  on  him  might  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life."  "He  that  believeth  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  Son  of  God  hath  everlasting  life"  Jesus  Christ 
said:  "In  my  Father's  House  are  many  mansions. 
If  it  were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you.  I  go  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  you  .  .  .  that  where  I  am, 
there  ye  may  be  also." 

I  would  as  soon  doubt  my  existence  here  as  to 
doubt  a  glorified  life  beyond  the  grave.  "Eye  hath 
not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  hath  it  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man  to  conceive,  the  things  which  God 
hath  in  store  for  them  that  love  Him."  There  are 
hundreds  of  other  precious  assurances  to  those  who 
believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  "The  fool  hath 
said  in  his  heart,  there  is  no  God." 

I  have  an  unwavering  faith,  joy  and  confidence  in 


72  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

the  promises  of  God,  and  they  do  not  admit  of  any 
doubt  in  my  mind. 
Summit,   N.   J. 


Hon.  Francis  M.   Cockrell,    United  States  Senator 
from  Missouri,   Chairman   Committee  on  En- 
grossed Bills.     January  26,  igo^f. 
I  firmly  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
in  a  future  existence  beyond  the  grave  of  eternal  hap- 
piness or  unending  misery,  and  in  our  Holy  Bible  and 
Christianity  as  the  best  guides  for  our  own  lives — 
temporal  and  eternal. 
Washington,  D.  C. 


Mrs.  Abby  Morton  Diaz,  Author  and  Lecturer. 
January  30,    IQ04* 

A  mutual  consideration  of  any  problem  should 
be  based  on  some  common  ground  of  agreement;  and 
all  will  agree  that  humanity,  being  a  part  of  the  uni- 
verse, comes  under  the  laws  of  the  universe. 

Now  as,  owing  to  the  general  disorder,  these  laws 
cannot  be  clearly  discerned  in  our  human  world,  we 
must  look  for  them  in  the  world  of  Nature,  where 
all  proceeds  directly  from  the  Infinite,  Eternal  Life- 
Source,  common  to  Nature  and  to  Man. 

First  is  the  Law  of  Life:  Everywhere  is  Life — 
no  vacuum — no  inertness.  Even  what  appears  solid  is 
the  result  of  forces  continually  at  work. 

Next  is  the  Law  of  Expression;  or  Life  expressed 
in  varied  forms  of  growth,  and — what  bears  directly 
on  our  purpose — Individual  Expression.  This  law 
holds  throughout.  Even  in  a  drop  of  water,  each 
individual  part  must  be  itself  and  the  whole  of  itself, 
and  nothing  else.     The  oak  ideas  do  not  enter  into 


*Died  April   1,   1904. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  73 

the  growth  of  the  pine,  nor  those  of  the  lily  into  that 
of  the  rose.  The  same  distinction  holds  in  the  human 
world.  People  differ  and  with  marked  differences. 
This  personal  individuality  being  the  outcome  of  the 
Infinite  Eternal  Life  must  be  itself  eternal. 

The  real  personality  of  our  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances is  in  the  mind  and  heart  characteristics.  These 
are  all  that  go  to  make  up  the  person,  for  when 
these  are  withdrawn,  what  is  left  becomes  "it/1  All 
that  composed  the  body, — lime,  water,  chemicals — 
are  just  what  they  are  as  we  know  them  all  around 
us.  The  make-up  of  the  real  person  cannot  be  thus 
disintegrated.  Nor,  as  Light  cannot  know  Dark- 
ness, neither  can  Life  ever  know  Death. 

Thus  the  Law  of  Life,  of  Life  Expressed,  and  of 
Life  Individually  Expressed,  must  hold  even  if  the 
fleshly  is  cast  aside. 

See  also  I.  Corinthians  XV,  44.  "It  is  sown  a 
natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body.  There  is  a 
natural  body,  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body. 

Belmont,   Mass. 


Charles  Mills  Gayley,  B.  A.,  Litt.  D.}  LL.D.,  Pro- 
fessor   of    English,    University    of    California. 
January  29,  1904. 
I  cherish  a  hope,  but  not  a  belief.      My -reason 
demands  a  God  who  in  His  turn  demands  creatures  to 
subserve  the  purposes  of  His  self-realization,  who  in 
their  turn  can  realize  Him  only  if  they  possess  free- 
will and  incur  responsibility.     These  characteristics 
which  we  do  possess  imply  the  possession  of  unlimited 
existence  as  well.     But  limitation,  also,  is  a  necessity 
of  the  creature  as  distinguished  from  the   Creator. 
It  is  essential  to  an  eternal  Purpose  that  there  should 
always  be  a  knowledge  beyond  that  which  the  crea- 


74  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

ture  has  yet  attained.  Otherwise,  he  would  cease  to 
strive,  and  the  Creator  to  be  realized  through  him. 

So  I  recognize  the  relativity  of  my  reason.  My 
belief  of  to-day  is  but  a  symbol  of  my  hope  of  yes- 
terday, an  index  of  my  knowledge  of  to-morrow.  I 
hope  for  an  immortality  of  the  individual,  because 
I  recognize  an  Omniscience  within  which  human  rea- 
son and  belief  are  ever  widening.  But  to  believe 
would  be  to  crystalize  the  whole  process.  That  truth, 
goodness  and  beauty  are  ideally  immortal  I  know, 
because  otherwise  I  could  not  reason  at  all. 

Berkeley,  Cal. 


James  E.   Creighton,   A.   B.,   Ph.D.,   Professor   of 
Logic  and  Metaphysics,  Cornell  University,  Ed- 
itor Philosophical  Review.     April  15,  IQ04. 
I  have  at  present  a  book  on  metaphysics  in  hand  in 
which  I  hope  to  say  something  regarding  the  problem 
of  immortality.     As  yet,  however,  I  have  published 
nothing  on  the  subject.     Perhaps  I  may  say  that  my 
own  convictions  are  positive,  though  I  have  never  felt 
myself  fully  ready  to  state  the  grounds  on  which  they 
rest. 

Ithaca,  N.   Y. 


Felix  L.  Oswald,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Physician,  Author 
and  Naturalist.  February  25,  IQ04. 
Bright  gleams  are  sometimes  vouchsafed  to  the 
children  of  poverty  whose  bits  of  fun  have  been 
trampled  out  week  after  week,  till  disappointment  at 
last  acts  as  a  collapse  of  all  that  could  make  life  worth 
living;  but  who,  like  Swift's  Honyhnhnms,  cling  to 
the  hope  of  a  "Return  to  first  Mother," — their  kind 
Mother  Nature,  of  whose  beaming  face  they  have 
caught  glimpses  in  sunlit  woods.     Though   uThey 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  75 

are  bullied  to  forget,  Yet  her  bright  smile  haunts 
them  still." 

"I  wish  I  could  fly;  I'd  go  where  my  mother  is," 
I  heard  a  poor  orphan  boy  say,  when  a  virago  had 
slapped  his  face,  and  he  stood  out  on  a  balcony  to 
watch  the  birds  flying  south.  And  I  am  greatly  mis- 
taken if  a  plurality  of  the  14,000  children  who  are 
murdered  every  year  in  New  York  City  and  Philadel- 
phia by  the  suppression  of  popular  pastimes  on  the 
day  when  ninety-nine  of  a  hundred  wage-earners  find 
their  only  chance  for  leisure — if  a  great  plurality  of 
those  refugees  do  not  depart  this  life  with  a  vague 
hope  of  a  transfer  to  the  haunts  of  bluebirds  and  but- 
terflies, in  some  region  where  their  mirth  cannot  be 
interrupted  by  the  howl  of  bigots." 

(Note.  Dr.  Oswald,  who  kindly  took  great  inter- 
est in  this  compilation,  did  not  approve,  however,  of 
its  being  confined  to  contributions  postulating  the 
certainty  of  a  personal  resurrection."  "It  might  be 
made,"  he  said,  "the  success  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury, without  the  slightest  danger  of  modern  read- 
ers misconstruing  your  purpose  of  preparing  a  thrill- 
ing effect  in  the  contrast  of  non-theological  visions") . 

Springfield,  Mass. 


From  St.  Clair  McKelway,  A.  M.,  LL.D.,  L.  H.  D., 
D.  C.  L.t  Editor  Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle.    March 

9>  1904- 
I  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  in  the 
life  everlasting.  I  do  not  believe  in  them  by  a  process 
of  argument,  but  because  I  find  them  in  the  Bible, 
which  my  heart  and  mind  tell  me  I  should  believe  and 
which,  for  that  reason,  I  do  believe. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


76  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Richard  Watson  Jones,  A.  M.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of 
Chemistry,   University  of  Mississippi.     Febru- 
ary 26,   IQ04. 
I  accept  fully  the  Apostle's  Creed.     I  believe  in 
uthe  resurrection  of  the  body  and  everlasting  life." 
I  have  been  a  student  and  teacher  of  science   for 
twenty-eight  years;    but  nothing  in  science  has  ever 
shaken  my  belief  in  the  immortality  of  man.     Our 
aspirations,  our  highest  ideals,  our  hopes,  all  point 
to  a  future  life.     "For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died 
and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  which  sleep  in 
Jesus  will  God  bring  with  Him." 
University  P.  O.,  Miss. 


Mrs.  Alice  Morse  Earle,  Author.  February  7, 
1904. 

You  ask  whether  I  believe  that  "there  is  an  exis- 
tence beyond  the  grave."  I  do  not  "believe"  it — I 
know  it! 

Aside  from  any  religious  regard  of  your  subject 
(which  I  do  not  care  to  express  in  public)  I  know 
there  is  an  existence  after  death,  because  there  was 
one  before  birth — and  the  latter  state  I  remember. 
Existence  after  death  is  as  positive  a  fact  to-  me  as 
existence  at  present — more  so  perhaps;  for  in  great 
distress  of  mind  I  have  for  a  short  time  felt  uncertain 
as  to  whether  I  were  now  living. 

Brooklyn,  N.   Y. 


Hon.  James  H.  Berry,  United  States  Senator  from 
Arkansas.     January  25,   1904. 

Yes,  I  believe  in  existence  beyond  the  grave,  and 
in  the  Presbyterian  religion  as  my  mother  taught 
me. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  77 

Mr.  Philip  C.  Garrett,  Retired  Manufacturer ',  Presi- 
dent Board  of  Public  Charities  of  Pennsylvania, 
also  of  State  Lunacy  Commission.    February  3, 

I  surely  believe  in  a  life  hereafter;  in  other  words, 
in  a  Soul,  and  in  its  deathless  character.  "The  things 
which  are  seen  are  temporal,  the  things  which  are  not 
seen  are  eternal. "  My  conviction  of  this  truth  would 
rest  sufficiently  on  the  theory  of  the  immortality  of 
God  himself,  a  theory  which  is  inseparable  from  my 
idea  of  his  character  as  the  omnipresent,  omnipotent 
and  omniscient  Being,  the  source  of  all  life.  We  are 
his  offspring;  "God  is  a  Spirit ;"  and  as  emana- 
tions from  the  everlasting  and  inexhaustible  fountain, 
we  participate  in  his  immortality. 

This  is  not  materialism.  It  is  not  pantheism,  for 
there  is  but  the  "One  God  over  all,  blessed  forever. " 
I  do  not  deny  the  indestructibility  of  matter  either, 
but  that  is  quite  a  different  question  from  that  of  the 
immortality  of  the  Soul  or  Spirit.  When  we  read 
that  uGod  created  man  in  His  own  image,"  we  do 
not  understand  it  to  be  the  material  form :  that 
followed  the  laws  of  chemistry  into  the  grass  above 
the  grave,  and  the  cattle  that  graze  upon  it,  and  the 
trees  whose  "fibers  net  the  dreamless  head.  Their 
roots  are  wrapped  around  the  bones."  But  we  may 
well  believe  the  resemblance  in  which  man  was  made 
was  to  the  undying  Spirit  of  whose  essence  he  too  was 
a  part,  "Bright  effluence  of  bright  essence  increate." 
To  me  it  seems  that  the  beauty  and  solemnity  of  an 
invisible  and  simple  theory  of  the  universe  like  this 
is  unsurpassable,  and  that  the  immortality  of  the  Soul 
is  a  logical  part  of  it. 

Such,  broadly  stated,  without  elaboration,  is  my 
conception  of  the  cosmos,  and  of  the  infinite  over-rul- 
ing Lord. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


78  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Mrs.  Evelyn  Greenleaf  Sutherland,  Author  and  Play- 
zvright.    March  II,  IQ04. 

My  faith  in  immortality  is  as  fixed  as  my  faith  in 
the  rising  of  to-morrow's  sun.  Why,  in  a  world  in 
which  nothing  is  lost,  should  that  be  lost  which  is 
holiest — love  and  faith,  and  the  bonds  that  unite 
human  hearts,  and  the  hope  of  a  life  or  larger  oppor- 
tunities, in  which  we  grow  to  what  we,  blindly,  in  this 
our  world  of  the  "low  skies  and  the  short  days,"  know 
past  contradicting  to  be  the  true  stature  of  humanity? 
The  hope  of  immortality  is  in  every  human  soul.  The 
tradition  of  immortality  is  in  every  religion  revealed 
to  mankind.  The  savage  tells  the  missionary  of  a 
life  beyond  death.  It  is  the  only  function  of  the 
missionary  to  raise  in  the  savage  mind  worthy  aspira- 
tions to  merit  such  life.  The  fact  that  such  an  ideal 
as  that  of  a  loftier  life  could  survive  in  every  nation 
and  through  every  age  is  proof  enough,  if  proof  were 
needed,  that  the  fulfilment  of  that  hope  waits  near 
at  hand.  To  implant  such  a  hope,  and  then  to  baffle 
and  to  mock  it — that  surely  were  what  Madame  de 
Stael  calls  uunimaginable  irony  on  the  part  of  God." 

Boston.  Mass. 


Hon.  Joseph  C.  Hendrix,  President  American  Bank- 
ers' Association.     March   g,    1904* 

Through  every  generation  a  stream  of  religion 
flows.  Its  source  is  in  human  hope,  its  channel  human 
faith,  and  its  destination — eternal  life  beyond  the 
grave.  The  soul  of  man  has  the  instinct  of  immor- 
tality, which  grips  the  future  as  the  love  of  life  grips 
the  present. 

New  York  City. 


*Died  November  9,   1904. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  79 

Adam  H.  Fettei-olf,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Presi- 
dent Girard  College.    February  18,  1904. 

While  I  am  a  firm  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  or  the  life  hereafter,  I  do  not 
feel  that  I  could  say  anything  new  on  the  subject. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Hon.  Eugene  V .  Debs,  Lecturer  and  Organizer.  Feb- 
ruary  6,  IQ04. 

The  question  you  ask  is  a  large  and  serious  one, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  in  the  hurry  of  the  moment  I  can 
make  myself  intelligible  to  you  and  your  readers.  I 
am  so  busy  with  the  affairs  of  this  life,  so  much  con- 
cerned with  the  wrongs  that  exist  here,  with  the  suf- 
fering that  prevails  now,  and  so*  profoundly  im- 
pressed with  the  sense  of  duty  I  owe  myself  and  my 
fellowman  here  and  now,  that  I  have  little  time  to 
think  of  what  lies  beyond  the  grave;  and  but  for  the 
earnestness  so  apparent  in  your  letter,  I  should  feel 
obliged  to  decline  the  attempt  to  answer  a  question 
which  at  best  must  still  remain  unanswered. 

The  most  philosophic  minds  have  thus  far  failed 
to  demonstrate  the  immortality  of  human  life,  and 
yet  the  normal  human  being,  the  wide  world  over,  be 
he  learned  or  ignorant,  wise  or  foolish,  good  or  evil, 
longs  for,  yearns  for,  hungers  and  hopes  for,  if  he 
does  not  actually  believe  in  life  everlasting,  and  this 
seems  to  me  to  present  the  strongest  proof  that 
immortality  is  a  fact  in  nature. 

There  are  many  truths  which  are  not  demonstra- 
ble to  the  physical  senses,  and  yet  they  are  so  obvious 
and  self-evident  that  it  were  folly  to  attempt  to  deny 
or  contradict  them. 

Coming  more  directly  to  your  question  as  to 
whether  I,  my  personal,  identical,  conscious  self,  shall 
continue  to  live  after  my  body  goes  back  to  dust,  I 


80  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

confess  I  do  not  know,  nor  do  I  know  of  any  means 
of  knowing;  but  as  I,  in  that  narrow  capacity  am 
infinitesimally  insignificant,  it  is  a  question  which  does 
not  greatly  concern  me. 

I  believe  firmly,  however,  in  the  immortal  life  of 
humanity  as  a  whole,  and  as  my  little  life  merges  into 
and  becomes  an  elementary  part  of  that  infinitely 
larger  life,  I  may  and  in  fact  do  feel  secure  in  the 
faith  and  belief  in  immortality. 

Men  are  small,  but  man  is  tall  as  God  Himself. 

The  universal  life  is  eternal  and  will  enrich  and 
glorify  the  world  with  its  divinity  after  all  the  planets 
wheel  dead  in  space. 

Chicago,  III. 


Mr.  Eben  E.  Rexford,  Author.    February  i8,  igo^. 

I  do  believe  in  an  existence  beyond  the  grave.  But 
just  why  I  do  is  not  an  easy  question  to  answer.  It 
seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  in 
favor  of  such  an  existence  is  the  intuitive  belief  which 
is  common  to  most  of  us,  in  a  measure,  concerning 
it.  Training  and  environment  will  not  account 
wholly  for  such  a  belief.  The  belief  is  in  us}  and  it  is 
there  because  there  is  a  reason  for  it.  God  made  the 
eye  because  there  are  things  for  it  to  see.  He  made 
our  faith  in  a  future  life  because  there  is  a  future  life. 
This  may  not  be  logical  reasoning,  but  it  is  quite  as 
good  reasoning  as  that  of  most  persons  who  argue 
against  a  future  existence. 

Shiocton,  Wis. 


Col.  Alexander  P.  Ketchum,  M.  A.,  Lawyer.     Feb- 
ruary 14,  IQ04. 
From  my  earliest  youth  I  have  been  a  believer  in 
the  Bible,  and  have  derived  great  comfort  from  its 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  81 

promises,  among  the  most  cheering  of  which,  to  me, 
is  that  of  a  life  to  come. 

Advancing  years  have  strengthened  my  faith  in 
this  assurance.  I  feel  that  it  must  be  true.  It  har- 
monizes with  my  conception  of  an  all-wise,  forgiving 
and  benevolent  Creator,  and  with  the  natural  long- 
ings and  aspirations  of  the  human  heart.  It  gives 
an  importance  to  the  present  life,  which  it  would 
otherwise   not  seem   to   possess. 

"What  are  we  here  for?"  would  be  a  question 
harder  to  answer  than  it  is,  had  we  not  the  hope  of 
immortality,  with  its  larger  sphere  and  possible  hap- 
piness. The  problem  of  human  existence  we  cannot 
solve;  but,  to  my  mind,  its  solution  becomes  much 
easier  upon  the  theory  of  a  life  beyond  the  grave  than 
upon  that  of  annihilation  at  death. 

New  York  City. 


Miss  Matae  B.   Cleveland,  Ex-President  National 
Association  of  Business  Women.     March   14, 

I  will  only  state  my  most  earnest  belief  in  immor- 
tality, without  which  the  significance  of  life  would  be 
lost  to  me. 

Chicago,  III. 


Warren  K.  Moorehead,  A.  M.,  Archaeologist,  Cura- 
tor Department  of  Archaeology,  Phillips 
Academy.    February  15,  IQ04. 

I  fear  that  my  views  on  immortality  would  be  of 
little  interest  to  the  general  public.  They  may  be 
dismissed  with  the  statement  that  I  believe  in  the 
Scriptures  from  ucover  to  cover."  If  every  one  took 
this  view  there  would  be  no  arguments  apropos  of 
religious  matters. 

Andover,  Mass. 


82  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Mr.  Jacob  A.  Riis,  Author  and  Reformer.  Febru- 
ary 6,  1904. 

The  man  who  doesn't  believe  that  there  is  an  "ex- 
istence beyond  the  grave"  must  be  a  sorry  fool  who 
never  thinks  beyond  his  need  of  filling  his  belly.  The 
"grave"  is  the  beginning,  not  the  end  of  life.  Pity 
the  one  who  doesn't  know  it. 

Richmond  Hill,  N.  Y. 


Mr.  William  J.  Kirkpatrick,  Composer,  Editor  of 
song  books.    February  4,  1904. 

Replying  to  your  question,  Do  I  believe  there  is  an 
existence  beyond  the  grave,  I  will  say  emphatically, 
yes !  I  know  of  no  good  reason  to  doubt  it. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Melville  D.  Landon,  A.M.,  (({Eli  Perkins")  Humor- 
ist  and  Lecturer,  President  New  York  News  As- 
sociation. April  17,  1904. 

Not  only  are  our  souls  immortal,  but  everything, 
material  or  spiritual,  is  immortal. 

We  say  the  material  man  dies.  He  dies  and  is 
transformed  into  earth.  This  earth  is  transformed 
into*  vegetation,  cereals  and  fruits.  Other  men  are 
born  and  eat  the  fruit  and  cereals.  Nothing  actually 
dies.    It  evolutes.    This  is  immaterial  immortality. 

The  warm  ocean  saturates  the  dry  land  and  air 
with  moisture.  Striking  the  cold  dry  land,  this  mois- 
ture is  condensed  into  rain.  The  land  sucks  up  the 
water,  the  trees  drink  it,  the  sun  sucks  it  out  of  the 
trees,  and  when  the  wet  air  cools  the  water  drips  out 
in  rain  and  runs  back  to  the  sea  again.  It  is  immor- 
tal, like  the  soul. 

The  soul  is  invisible  imagination,  love,  compassion, 
sympathy,  joy  and  sorrow. 

The  thpught  of  soul  immediately  kills  the  sting  of 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  83 

so-called  Death.  The  thought  that,  if  we  are  good 
and  just  and  happy  here  in  this  world,  we  will  be  bet- 
ter, juster  and  happier  in  Heaven  makes  the  good 
hail  the  departure  for  Heaven  with  joy. 

uDo  unto  others"  is  the  key  to  a  happy  immortali- 
ty. It  makes  the  pure  and  just  long  for  translation — 
translation  to  that  place  where  the  soul  evolutes  into 
perfection  and  joy,  where  we  will  keep  every  law  of 
nature. 

Do  not  take  away  from  me  the  thought  that  if  I 
am  good  in  this  world,  I  shall  be  happy  in  the  next ! 

New  York  City. 


Hon.  Albert  B.  White,  Governor  of  West  Virginia. 
February  g}  1904. 
I  certainly  believe  in  an  existence  beyond  the  grave. 
Parkersburg,  West  Va. 


Capt.  Charles  B.  Parsons,  Ship  Broker.  February 
15,  1904. 

My  whole  life  has  been  so  firmly  and  completely 
interwoven  with  a  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  and  in  my  contact  with  men,  those  who  do  not 
entertain  such  views  have  been  such  rare  exceptions, 
that  the  admission  of  the  question  of  a  future  exist- 
ence seems  almost  a  surprise.  My  early  home  educa- 
tion laid  the  foundation  for  my  faith  in  the  resur- 
rection, which  faith  has  been  strengthened  by  my 
experience  of  four  years  of  active  army  life  during 
the  Civil  War;  by  twenty-five  years  of  sea-faring 
life,  as  a  master  of  sea-going  vessels  in  both  the 
domestic  and  foreign  trade;  and  by  fifteen  years  of 
active  life  as  a  business  man  in  a  large  city. 

During  these  years  there  has  been  much  to 
strengthen  and  confirm  my  religious  belief,  while 
there  has  been  nothing  tending  to  question  or  weaken 


84  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

the  faith  which  enables  me  to  say,  "I  know  that  my 
Redeemer  liveth,"  etc.,  Job  XIX,  25. 
New  York  City. 


Mr.  John  Mitchell,  National  President  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America.    February  18,  IQ04. 

While  I  am  not  a  communicant  of  any  particular 
church,  I  have  an  abiding  faith  in  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  and  I  believe  in  and  make  an  effort  to  live  up 
to  the  Golden  Rule. 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 


Mrs.  Susan  Cotton  Morris,  mother  of  Henry  Critten- 
den Morris.     March  22,  IQ04. 

From  infancy,  I  may  say  for  over  sixty  years,  the 
firm  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  has  been  my 
guardian  angel,  giving  not  only  peace  to  my  mind, 
but  comfort  to  those  around  me.  In  proof  of  this  I 
send  you  some  of  my  thoughts,  and  if  you  care  to  use 
any  of  the  verses  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  you  do  so. 
Those  entitled  "Belief  in  Immortality,"  were  com- 
posed at  the  deathbed  of  my  dear  friend,  Countess 
Wilbeau,  nee  Milbeau,  twin  sister  of  Mme.  Badeau. 
These  words  came  in  a  flash  across  my  mind.  A 
copy  was  put  in  the  coffin  of  the  countess  at  Ostende, 
Belgium. 

BELIEF  IN  IMMORTALITY. 

I  am  one  of  the  angels,  my  child, 

Who  chanted  at  thy  birth, 
Luring  thee  with  sympathy  most  mild 

From  the  sorrows  of  earth. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  85 

Cast  then  thy  burdens  upon  me, 

Lean  on  my  outstretched  arm, 
There  is  glory  e'en  now  around  thee, 

There  comes  no  earthly  harm. 

In  heaven's  brightest  star 

Behold  thy  saintly  place; 
With  pure  love  from  afar 

Beams  thy  Saviour's  face. 

Lull'd  now  are  thy  sorrows, 

Quieted  are  thy  pains, 
For  thee  dawn  new  to-morrows 

Where  peace  eternal  reigns. 
Chicago,  III. 


Col.  Henry  F.  Bowers,  Founder  and  Ex-President 
of  the  American  Protective  Association.    March 

9,  1904-  ■      .  .     TT 

I  take  pleasure  in  referring  you  to  Genesis  II. 7, 

wherein  it  is  declared,  uAnd  the  Lord  God  formed 
man  of  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nos- 
trils the  breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul." 
Also,  Ecclesiastes,  XII. 7 :  "Then  shall  the  dust 
return  to'  the  earth  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  shall 
return  unto  God  who  gave  it."  This  comprehends 
the  whole  question — the  Genesis  and  the  End  of 
man.    The  life  and  spirit  is  one  and  the  same. 

We  have  the  promise  also  under  certain  conditions 
if  we  fear  not:  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death  and  I 
will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life."  Revelations,  II.  10. 
Again,  we  find  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-third 
Psalm,  third  verse,  the  following:  "As  the  dew  of 
Hermon  and  as  the  dew  that  descended  upon  the 
mountain  of  Zion,  for  these  the  Lord  commanded 
the  blessing,  even  life  for  evermore." 


86  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

There  are  many  more  assurances  of  a  life  after 
death,  of  a  spiritual  form,  but  not  of  a  resurrection  of 
the  body.  Therefore  we  need  not  confound  the  sub- 
ject by  assuming  that  there  are  not  two  distinct  bod- 
ies dwelling  in  union  until  death  intervenes.  Then 
the  body  goes  to  the  dust,  and  the  spiritual  form  to 
God  who  gave  it.  This  is  the  life  after  death.  The 
analysis  of  this,  our  compound  existence,  shows 
clearly  that  the  body,  or  that  which  is  created  of  the 
dust  of  the  ground,  returns  to  the  earth.  This  much 
we  see  and  know.  Then,  knowing  this  to  be  true, 
why  is  it  not  equally  true  that  the  spirit,  (which  is  the 
life  breathed  into  the  nostrils  at  creation)  returns  to 
God  who  gave  it  ?  We  know  when  the  body  is  laid 
to  rest  that  the  life,  the  light,  the  spirit  has  gone 
forth  to  an  ever-existing  life  after  forsaking  the  body. 
Yes,  I  believe  this.  I  can  see  no  reason  to  harbor  a 
single  doubt. 

Clinton,  Iowa. 

J.  M.  Peebles,  M.  D.,  A.  M.,  Editor,  Physician. 
February  20,  1904. 

I  was  formerly  quite  an  agnostic  upon  the  subject 
of  immortality,  but  the  study  of  mesmerism,  hypnot- 
ism, trances  and  vision — in  a  word,  the  higher  spirit- 
ism gave  me  a  knowledge  of  the  life  hereafter. 

Reason  leads  to  it.  The  conservation  of  forces 
proves  that  nothing  is  lost.  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
annihilation ;  that  is,  the  transformation  of  substance 
or  something  into  nothing.  It  is  very  evident  that 
if  nothing  cannot  become  something  or  substance,  the 
converse  is  true  that  substance  cannot  become  noth- 
ing. We  are  all  conscious,  substantial  beings,  and  if 
we  are  ever  less  than  this  the  universe  has  suffered  a 
loss,  and  the  conservation  of  forces  is  absolutely  false, 
and  science  is  a  failure.     I  may  add  to  this  that  I 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  87 

have  held  conscious  converse  with  the  dwellers  in  the 
spirit  world  for  fifty  years.  This  is  to  me  positive 
knowledge,  and  if  human  beings  exist  beyond  the 
grave,  as  I  know  they  do,  immortality  follows  as  a 
natural  sequence. 
Battle  Creek,  Mich. 


Miss  Kate  Sanborn,  Author  and  Lecturer.  Febru- 
ary 14,  IQ04. 

I  believe,  not  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body  we 
now  know,  but  in  a  spiritual  body  and  life  everlasting, 
a  life  of  work  that  is  worship;  progression,  and  a 
constant  unfolding  of  the  great  Creator's  plans.  From 
universe  to  universe  uthere  is  no  end." 

New  York  City. 


Will  Carleton,  A.  M.,  Litt.D.,  Author  and  Lecturer, 
Editor  of  Everywhere.     January  23,   IQ04. 

In  response  to  yours  of  late  date.  The  longer  I 
live,  the  more  proof  I  find  of  future  existence. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


Mr.  Frank  Edwin  Elwell,  Sculptor,  Curator  Depart- 
ment of  Ancient  and  Modern  Statuary,  Metro- 
politan Museum  of  Art.    January  22,  IQ04. 

If  there  is  a  conscious  present,  there  certainly  must 
be  a  past,  and  if  a  past  there  is  a  future,  or  hereafter. 
It  does  not  need  argument  or  even  thought  to  prove 
that  the  steady  march  of  life  is  incessant  and  largely 
unaccounted  for  by  cellular  cerebration  from  the 
brain. 

We  are  representations  of  some  form  of  use  in  the 
make  up  of  the  universe.  The  greater  the  real  use, 
the  finer  the  real  result. 

Rewards  and  punishments  are  not  necessary  in 
the  comprehension  of  the  great  plan  of  things.    We 


88  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

advance  or  retard  our  growth  in  just  proportion  to 
our  true  or  false  attitude  toward  the  use  performed 
in  the  work  of  the  universe.  No  one  may  know  what 
a  real  use  is  except  by  that  human  feel  that  registers 
every  right  thought  and  action ;  finally  excluding  the 
base  and  the  false  by  the  same  process.  The  belief 
in  a  purely  spiritual  hereafter  is  an  excellent  police- 
man for  a  large  mass  of  undeveloped  humanity.  But 
character  and  right  conduct,  one  toward  another,  is 
of  far  greater  use  in  the  life  of  humanity  as  we  find 
it  on  this  planet. 
New  York  City. 


Hon.  Charles  N.  Herreid,  Governor  of  South  Da- 
kota.    March  7,  1904. 
Yes,  I  believe  in  immortality.    Permit  me  to  quote 
the  following  from  Tennyson's  "In  Memoriam:" 

"Strong  Son  of  God,  immortal  Love, 
Whom  we,  that  have  not  seen  thy  face, 

By  faith,  and  faith  alone,  embrace, 
Believing  where  we  cannot  prove; 

Thine  are  these  orbs  of  light  and  shade; 
Thou  madest  Life; 

Thou  madest  Death;     .     .     . 

"Thou  wilt  not  leave  us  in  the  dust: 

Thou  madest  man,  he  knows  not  why, 

He  thinks  he  was  not  made  to  die ; 

And  Thou  hast  made  him:     Thou  art  just." 
Pierre,  S.  D. 


Prof.  John  G.  Lemmon,  Botanical  Explorer  and  Col- 
lector.    March  19,  1904. 
Dr.  C.  C.  Parry,  the  distinguished  botanist,  wrote 
a  beautiful  letter  to  me,  upon  the  occasion  of  the 
death  of  my  dear  little  mother,  from  which  I  quote : 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  89 

"It  is,  to  my  mind,  one  of  the  best  evidences  of  a 
future  life  and  of  renewed  association,  that  we  are 
never  ready  to  give  up  our  associates,  even  when  they 
have  passed  the  allotted  period  of  life.  We  cling 
to  them  because  the  association  is  not  complete — 
rather  only  just  begun.  So  we  do  right  to  remember 
and  hope." 

Oakland,   Cal. 


Mrs.  Sara  A.  P.  Lemmon,  Botanist  and  Artist. 
March   iq,    IQ04. 

My  leading  thought  of  the  future  life  is  based  on 
the  quality  of  immortality  that  must  come  through 
character-building, — that  which  is  evolved  by  the 
needed  spirit-food  which  includes  everything  that 
calls  for  resistance  or  will  power  against  the  lower 
nature  by  the  higher  spiritual  nature.  This  process 
develops  character-strength,  which  appeals  to  me  as 
the  high  quality  of  immortality. 

Oakland,  Cal. 


Mrs.  Donald  McLean,  Regent  New  York  City  Chap- 
ter, D.  A.  R.    February  iq,  igo4. 

In  response  to  your  letter  I  would  reply  simply: 
I  do  believe  in  immortality. 

New  York  City. 


John   B.   Peaslee,   A.   M.,   Ph.D.,     Educator    and 
Author,    {the  originator  of  u Arbor  Day"  and 
"Author  Day"  in  the  public  schools) .   February 
1$,  1904. 
The  doubts  that  came  over  me  in  my  college  days 
all  vanished  in  my  maturer  years,  and  I  am  now  abso- 
lutely convinced  that  there  is  an  existence  beyond  the 
grave. 


9o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

THE  CHRISTIAN'S  FAITH. 

For  all  the  world  I  would  not  lose 

My  faith  in  Christ  the  Lord; 
For  all  the  world  I  would  not  part 

With  Jesus  and  His  word. 
For  all  the  world,  I  would  not  live 

Rebellious  to  His  will ; 
Though  all  mankind  should  Him  forsake, 

Fll  bide  with  Jesus  still. 

For  when  my  parting  hour  shall  come, 

The  Lord  will  take  me  home, 
To  dwell  among  the  sainted  host, 

Around  the  heavenly  throne. 
And  when  this  world  is  wrecked  in  years, 

My  spirit  made  divine 
"Shall  flourish  in  immortal  youth," 

Beyond  the  bounds  of  time. 
Cincinnati,  O. 


Hon.  Joseph  K.  Toole,  Governor  of  Montana.  Feb- 
ruary   13,    IQ04. 

Replying  to  your  letter  asking  for  an  expression 
from  me  on  the  subject  of  immortality,  I  will  say 
without  entering  ito  details  or  reasons  for  my  belief, 
that  I  have  long  cherished  the  idea  of  an  existence 
beyond  the  grave.  Nothing  in  the  physical  or  scien- 
tific world  coming  under  my  observation  has  ever 
shaken  my  confidence  in  this  firm  belief. 

Helena,  Mont. 


Mrs.  H.  H.  A.  Beach,  Composer.    March  ig,  igof. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  to  the  public  my 

most  intimate  thoughts  and  feelings  upon  so  vast  a 

subject  as  this;   but  I  am  willing  to  express  my  firm 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN         91 

belief  in  the  continuation  of  life  beyond  the  grave. 
My  reasons  must  remain  known  only  to  myself. 
Boston,  Mass. 


Miss    Henrietta    Crosman,    Actress.      January    22, 
1904. 
I  most  surely  do  believe  in  a  life  beyond  the  grave. 
New  York  City. 


Major  JV.  M.  Beach,  Corps  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A. 
Isthmian  Canal  Commission.  February  5,  1904. 

In  answer  to  your  inquiry  I  would  say  that  I  have 
a  firm  belief  in  continued  existence  or,  as  it  is  gener- 
ally termed,  life  beyond  the  grave. 

Culebra,   Republic  of  Panama. 


William  Rainey  Harper,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President 
of  the  University  of  Chicago* 

"I  am  going  before  my  work  is  finished.  I  do  not 
know  where  I  am  going,  but  I  hope  my  work  will  go 
on.  I  expect  to  continue  work  in  the  future  state,  for 
this  is  only  a  small  part  of  the  glorious  whole." 

Chicago,  III. 


*Died  Jan.   10,   1906. 


PART  II 
EXTRACTS 


Hamilton  Wright  Mabie,  A.  M.}  L.  H.  D.,  LL.B., 
LL.D.,  Associate  Editor  of  the  Outlook,  in 
"The  Life  of  the  Spirit." 

THE  INCIDENT  OF  DEATH 

WE  live  in  a  vast  order  which  not  only 
enfolds  us  but  touches  us  every  mo- 
ment through  a  thousand  forces  and 
appearances;  but  so  familiar  is  the 
aspect  of  things  which  surround  us 
that  only  at  rare  moments  do  we 
become  conscious  of  this  larger  movement  in  which 
all  lesser  movements  are  included.  We  have  only  to 
look  at  the  sky  to  read  the  sublime  evidence  that  we 
are  citizens  not  only  of  this  little  world,  but  of  the 
immeasurable  universe  as  well;  we  have  only  to 
watch  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tides  to  discover  afresh 
the  unity  which  binds  star  with  star  across  the  vast 
distances  of  space.  The  earth  lives  moment  by 
moment  because  it  is  folded  in  the  light  and  heat  and 
movement  of  the  universe.  Every  flower  that  blooms, 
however  delicate  and  fragile,  unfolds  at  the  bidding 
of  another  world  than  that  in  which  its  roots  are 
planted;  every  cloud  that  floats  across  the  loveliness 
of  the  summer  day  is  soft  and  luminous  because  the 
light  of  another  world  touches  its  innermost  haze. 
We  are  affected  hour  by  hour  by  these  remote  influ- 
ences ;  we  are  confronted  day  by  day  by  the  splendor 
of  the  universe;  and  yet  we  are  often  unconscious  of 
these  larger  relations ! 

And  it  is  well  that  we  should  be;    for  our  work 
for  the  day  is  here;    and  there  are  times  when  the 

(95) 


96  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

doing  of  that  work  is  the  absorbing  duty  to  which 
everything  else  must  give  place.  When  the  harvest 
is  ripe  and  the  time  of  reaping  short,  a  man  does  well 
to  think  only  of  the  field,  and  to  leave  the  landscape 
for  more  favorable  days.  There  are  days  for  the 
field,  and  days  for  the  landscape;  days  when  one 
must  surrender  himself  entirely  to  the  work  in  hand ; 
and  days  when  one  must  search  the  universe  and  bring 
his  life  into  harmony  with  its  laws. 

There  are  near  duties  and  remote  relations;  for 
life  is  made  up  of  the  visible  material  and  the  invisi- 
ble force;  of  words  and  deeds  and  emotions  which 
concern  passing  circumstances  and  the  temporary  con- 
dition, and  of  other  words,  deeds,  and  emotions 
which  are  evoked  by  convictions  regarding  the  unseen, 
the  invisible,  and  the  eternal.  There  is  no  deep  life 
for  any  man  unless  he  lays  hold,  in  thought,  imagina- 
tion, and  faith,  of  the  unseen  spiritual  universe;  there 
is  no  real  life  for  any  man  unless  he  grasps  with  clear 
discernment  and  steady  will  the  conditions  which  sur- 
round him.  The  problem  which  a  man  must  solve  is 
to  bring  the  power  of  faith  in  the  unseen  order  to 
which  his  spirit  is  allied  to  bear  in  dealing  with  the 
material  world  to  which  his  body  is  akin.  So  familiar 
is  this  visible  world  of  work  and  duty  and  human  ties 
that,  though  a  man  believe  in  the  invisible  spiritual 
order,  it  is  often  difficult  for  him  to  rest  in  it  and  live 
by  it;  as  difficult  as  it  is  for  him  to  feel  the  reality  of 
the  universe  when  his  hands  and  thought  are  ab- 
sorbed in  the  field  where  the  harvest  waits  for  his 
reaping. 

Sometimes  these  wider  connections  of  his  life  are 
suddenly  brought  to  his  consciousness  by  an  unusual 
event  in  the  spiritual  world.  An  observer  has  made 
record  of  the  extraordinary  impression  made  upon 
him  while  watching  an  eclipse  from  the  summit  of 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN  97 

the  Rigi.  Looking  down  on  that  noble  landscape 
at  midday,  he  saw  it  darkened  by  the  vast  shadow 
of  the  moon  passing  over  the  sun's  disc  and  moving 
across  field  and  lake  and  mountain  as  if  it  were  oblit- 
erating the  earth.  Here  was  a  visible  result  of  inter- 
planetary action;  a  sudden  and  convincing  demon- 
stration of  the  kinship  of  star  with  star.  Across  the 
quiet  landscape  of  the  earth  a  shadow  from  the  uni- 
verse seemed  to  be  silently  flung. 

In  like  manner,  in  great  and  unusual  experiences, 
the  vastness  of  man's  life  is  sometimes  impressively 
brought  home,  and  on  the  instant  eternal-relations 
blot  out  time-relations;  the  prospective  of  time  is 
exchanged  for  the  perspective  of  eternity,  and  a  man 
sees  events  in  their  real  relations  and  order.  This 
is  especially  true  of  that  mysterious  experience  which 
we  call  death.  As  the  days  come  and  go  in  the  cus- 
tomary course  of  work  and  duty  and  love,  death 
seems  like  an  awful  discord.  When  it  comes  to  those 
who  stand  near  us,  it  seems  like  an  inexplicable  inter- 
ruption of  the  order  of  life;  a  swift  and  irrational 
interference  with  work  and  development ;  and  awful 
and,  sometimes,  a  brutal  severing  of  ties  tender  and 
sensitive  and  sacred.  Looking  at  it  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  years  in  which  we  live,  death  is  inexplic- 
able ;  we  cannot  make  ready  for  it  nor  explain  it,  nor 
reconcile  ourselves  to  it.  It  is  only  as  we  rise  out  of 
the  visible  into  the  invisible  order  that  we  can  make 
room  for  it  and  give  it  place.  We  often  accept  it 
with  submissive  faith;  we  rarely  recognize  it  as  a 
passing  incident  in  an  unbroken  and  endless  life. 

There  are  moments,  however,  when  the  depth  and 
greatness  of  the  experience  through  which  we  are 
passing  suddenly  sets  our  little  earth  in  the  shining 
order  of  the  immeasurable  universe — and  then  death 
has  no  terrors;    it  becomes,  indeed,  so  unimportant 


98  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

in  comparison  with  the  ends  we  are  seeking  that  we 
do  not  give  it  so  much  as  a  thought.  In  that  exaltation 
of  emotion,  that  clarity  of  vision,  it  takes  its  place 
with  all  the  other  normal  and  inevitable  happenings 
of  life.  The  perspective  of  eternity  is  suddenly  sub- 
stituted for  that  time,  and  a  man  becomes  conscious 
of  the  power  and  unity  of  an  endless  life. 

Schiller  said  that  death  must  be  a  blessing  because 
it  is  universal ;  we  may  put  it  out  of  mind  and  ignore 
its  presence,  but  no  man  escapes  it.  And  when  we 
remember  how  many  men  resent  it  as  an  interference 
with  their  plans,  or  dread  it  as  the  opening  of  a  door 
into  a  room  from  which  no  voice  comes  back,  it  is 
surprising  that  men  meet  this  supreme  experience  so 
calmly.  For  the  vast  majority  of  men  and  women 
meet  death  not  indeed  with  welcoming  glances,  but 
with  quiet  courage.  Dr.  Johnson  lived  in  terror  of 
death,  but  when  the  final  hour  came  he  fell  asleep  like 
a  tired  child.  In  that  last  hour  the  vision  broadens 
to  take  in  the  sweep  of  life  and  to  recognize  death, 
neither  as  the  end  nor  even  as  the  interruption  of  the 
natural  order,  but  as  a  normal  incident.  This  dila- 
tion of  the  imagination,  this  swift  substitution  of 
eternal  for  time  relations,  is  almost  invariably  accom- 
plished in  moments  of  peril.  Whenever  a  crisis  comes 
which  makes  us  aware  that  many  things  are  worth 
more  than  life  to  us,  we  suddenly  see  persons,  events, 
and  possessions  in  true  perspective.  There  is  no  hes- 
itation or  uncertainty  in  that  moment  of  clear  vision ; 
we  die  for  those  we  love  with  the  deep  joy  which 
a  spiritual  opportunity  always  brings  with  it.  On 
the  field  of  battle,  on  the  deck  of  the  cruiser,  men  do 
not  take  death  into  account.  In  the  supreme  moment, 
when  love  of  country,  of  honor,  of  heroism,  absorbs 
the  whole  energy  of  a  man's  spirit,  death  is  of  no 
rrore  account  than  an  obstacle  on  the  highway  or 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN         99 

the  sting  of  a  bee  in  the  fields.  It  is  an  incident  in  a 
great  experience,  not  the  end  of  a  career.  There  is  a 
tonic  quality  in  the  indifference  of  men  to  death  in 
great  moments.  For  while  civilization  is  to  be  meas- 
ured by  its  care  for  human  life,  the  greatness  of  a 
man,  an  age,  or  a  race  is  to  be  measured  by  indiffer< 
ence  to  death. 

The  sense  of  incompleteness  clings  to  the  tragic  as 
closely  as  to  the  fortunate  happenings  of  life.  Noth- 
ing is  ever  complete  in  one's  experience;  in  every  joy 
there  is  something  which  cannot  be  seized,  and  every 
great  sorrow  has  its  prophetic  afterthoughts.  We 
are  never  able  to  rest  in  desolation  as  a  finality;  the 
seeds  of  a  new  order  are  sown  in  every  overthrow  of 
the  old.  The  hurricane  is  no  sooner  past  than  nature 
begins  to  rebuild;  the  walls  are  hardly  down  before 
the  ivy  silently  steals  up  the  broken  lines  and  covers 
the  wreck  with  a  beauty  which  is  like  a  mantle  of 
charity.  No  destruction  is  final;  everything  con- 
tains the  potency  of  a  further  life;  the  mortal  is 
everywhere  penetrated  with  immortality.  To  Demos- 
thenes the  fall  of  Athens  was  a  final  catastrophe ;  in 
reality  it  was  the  beginning  of  that  leadership  which 
has  no  limits  of  time  and  which  runs  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth.  Even  in  those  appalling  tragedies  which 
leave  the  stage  like  a  night  without  a  star  the  imagi- 
nation is  unable  to  rest  in  what  it  sees ;  it  inevitably 
searches  for  the  light  which  it  feels  is  approaching 
below  or  beyond  the  horizon.  The  culminating  catas- 
trophe of  "King  Lear,"  the  most  colossal  of  all  mod- 
ern tragedies,  somehow  clears  the  air;  we  feel  that 
at  last  the  storm  has  spent  its  force,  that  the  singing 
of  the  birds  will  be  heard  again,  and  out  of  the  wreck 
of  the  shattered  world  a  new  world  will  arise.  More 
than  this :  we  feel  that  the  end  is  not  yet,  but  that  on 


ioo  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

some  other  stage  Lear  and  Cordelia  are  to  come  to 
their  own. 

This  prophetic  quality  in  life  has  its  source  in  the 
structure  of  things.  In  the  career  of  Christ  it  issues 
out  of  his  very  nature.  He  is  inexplicable  if  one 
attempts  to  explain  him  in  terms  of  mortality  and 
finiteness.  He  was  in  the  world,  but  he  was  not  of  it. 
His  contracts  were  with  a  larger  environment;  He 
acted  with  reference  to  ends  which  were  beyond  the 
limits  of  time ;  He  taught  a  truth  which  would  have 
been  the  most  colossal  of  falsehoods  if  there  had  been 
no  indestructible  spiritual  order;  He  lived  as  seeing 
that  which  is  invisible.  The  moment  we  come  into 
his  presence  we  are  aware  of  forces,  ends,  aims,  and  a 
spirit  which  were  not  born  in  this  world  and  do  not 
belong  to  it.  Prophecy  issued  also  out  of  all  the 
great  events  of  Christ's  life.  The  song  of  the  angels, 
the  voice  at  the  baptism,  the  agony  in  the  garden,  the 
sublime  anguish  of  Calvary,  would  have  been  inex- 
plicable without  the  light  which  was  reflected  back 
upon  them  by  the  angels  at  the  open  tomb  on  the 
morning  of  the  resurrection.  Such  a  nature  and  such 
a  life  were  not  formed  and  fashioned  within  the  nar- 
row limits  of  time  and  space;  they  brought  infinity 
and  immortality  within  the  confines  of  the  world. 
Alone  among  men,  Christ  has  visibly  put  on  immor- 
tality ;  but  that  sublime  truth  does  not  rest  on  the  res- 
urrection; it  rests  in  the  very  structure  of  man's 
nature  and  life.  Neither  is  comprehensible  without 
it;  neither  is  ever  complete  in  itself;  both  affirm  its 
reality  and  predict  its  fuller  disclosure.  The  risen 
Christ  does  not  stand  solitary  in  a  vast  circle  of 
unopened  graves ;  He  is  the  visible  witness  to  the  sub- 
lime truth  that  the  grave  has  no  victory  and  death  no 
sting;  for  life  and  immortality  are  one  and  the  same. 

New  York  City. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        101 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Wilkins  Freeman,  Author,  in  "Jane 
Field." 

"There's  a  good  many  queer  things  in  this  world," 
rejoined  Amanda  with  a  sigh.  "I  guess  there  is," 
said  Mrs.  Babcock.  "Now  you  can  just  look  round 
this  room,  an'  see  all  the  things  that  belonged  to  your 
folks  that's  dead  an'  gone,  and  it  seems  almost  as 
if  they  was  immortal  instead  of  them.  An'  it's  goin' 
to  be  jest  the  same  way  with  us;  the  clothes  that's 
hangin'  up  in  our  closets  are  goin'  to  outlast  us.  Well, 
there's  one  thing  about  it — this  world  aint  our  abidin' 
place." 

Metuchen,  N.  J. 


W.  W.  Keen,  M.  D.,  LL.D.,  Surgeon,  Ex-President 
American  Surgical  Association,  Honorary  Fel- 
low Royal  College  Surgeons  of  England  and  of 
Deutsche  Gesellschaft  Chirurgie,  in  the  Out- 
look. 

THE  CHEERFULNESS  OF  DEATH 

Most  people,  even  most  Christian  people,  shrink 
from  Death.  In  sermons  and  hymns,  and  in  literature, 
it  is  generally  represented  as  repulsive.  It  is  spoken 
of  as  "Death's  Cold  Stream,"  "The  Last  Enemy," 
the  "Dark  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death,"  and  the 
"terrors  of  death"  are  pictured  in  vivid  terms.  For 
the  Christian  at  least,  this  is  all  wrong.  Death  should 
be  in  reality  his  best  friend;  welcomed  rather  than 
feared. 

So  far  as  the  physical  aspect  of  death  is  concerned, 
the  universal  teaching  of  physicians  is  that  the  pro- 
cess of  dying  is  rarely  painful  or  even  unwelcome  to 
the  patient,  though  full  of  sorrow  to  his  family.  A 
happy  unconsciousness  in  nearly  all  cases  shields  the 


102  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

dying  man  from  pain.  The  weakness,  the  fever,  the 
parched  lips,  the  labored  breathing,  are  all  unfelt. 
Most  people  die  quietly  and  often  almost  impercepti- 
bly. 

"We  thought  her  dying  when  she  slept, 
And  sleeping  when  she  died," 

is  often  true.  Even  when  convulsive  movements 
occur,  they  are  entirely  independent  of  conscious- 
ness; merely  physical  in  origin  and  character,  and 
absolutely  unattended  by  any  suffering. 

If,  then,  death  is  not  an  unpleasant  process  phys- 
ically, why  should  it  be  feared  from  the  spiritual  side  ? 
See  what  it  does  for  the  Christian. 

It  frees  him  from  accident,  sickness,  and  suffer- 
ing, to  which  his  body  has  been  liable  all  his  life,  and 
from  which  he  has  often  suffered,  sometimes  intensely 
and  for  long  periods  of  time. 

It  frees  him  from  all  sorrow.  No  one  who  has 
reached  even  adolescence  escapes  sorrow.  To  many, 
sorrows  are  multiplied  many  fold  and  bear  down  even 
the  stoutest  heart.  The  "weary"  and  the  "heavy 
laden"  make  up  the  mass  of  mankind. 

It  opens  the  gates  of  heaven  to  him.  While  we 
know  nothing  accurately  of  the  details  of  the  heav- 
enly life,  we  do  know  that  there  we  shall  live  in  eter- 
nal bliss;  there  we  shall  be  in  the  presence  of  God 
himself;  there  we  shall  see  and  know  intimately  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  there  we  shall  feel  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  there  we  shall  meet  the  saints  of 
all  ages;  there  we  shall  be  reunited  to  the  dear  ones 
who  have  happily  preceded  us;  there  shall  come  in 
due  time  the  dear  ones  we  have  left  on  earth ;  there 
our  minds  will  expand  beyond  our  present  comprehen- 
sion;  there  all  the  unsolved  problems  of  earth  will 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        103 

be  as  clear  as  day;  there  we  shall  learn  why  per- 
plexity, disappointment  and  trouble  were  needful  for 
the  orderly  and  sufficient  development  of  our  own 
character,  and  of  God's  large  plans  not  only  for  us, 
but  for  the  race;  there,  in  a  word,  all  that  is  evil 
shall  vanish  away  and  all  that  is  good  shall  be  ours 
forever. 

If  death,  then,  is  not  a  painful,  unpleasant  process, 
and  if  it  does  for  us  so  much,  it  should  be,  not  the 
last  enemy,  but  our  best  friend;  nor  dreaded  as  the 
messenger  of  evil,  but  welcomed  as  a  companion  who 
will  lead  us  into  paths  of  pleasantness  and  reveal  to 
us  the  joys  for  which  we  have  been  longing  all  our 
lives.  We  should  not  speak  of  the  terrors  of  death, 
but  should  feel  in  our  very  hearts  the  cheerfulness 
of  death. 

Philadelphia ,  Pa. 

Henry  Mills  Alden,  L.  H.  D.}  Editor  Harper's  Mag- 
azine, in  "A  Study  of  Death." 

THE  MYSTICAL  VISION 

.  Our  usual  regard  of  death  is  one  which 
brings  into  the  foreground  its  accidental  aspects,  not 
pertinent  to  its  essential  reality.  Even  our  grief 
for  dear  ones  taken  from  us  dwells  upon  our  loss, 
upon  the  difference  to  us  which  death  has  made,  and 
so  our  attention  is  diverted  from  the  transcendent 
office.  On  the  hither  side  Death  has  no  true  inter- 
preter and  none  return  from  its  true  domain  to  be 
the  witness  of  its  invisible  glory,  none  save  the  risen 
Lord.  But  though  the  loved  ones  gone  cannot  return 
to  us,  we  shall  go  to  them;  and  this  faith  which 
follows  that  which  has  vanished,  the  Christian  hope 
of  resurrection,  lifts  us  to  a  point  of  vision  from 


io4  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

which  it  is  possible  for  us  to  see  death  for  what  it 
really  is  as  invisibly  an  ascending  ministrant,  what- 
ever frailty  and  decrepitude  may  attend  the  visible 
descent. 

The  pagan  idea  of  immortality  insisted  upon  death- 
lessness.  The  Christian  faith  in  resurrection  gives 
death  back  to  life  as  essential  to  its  transformation. 
Death  is  swallowed  up  of  Life — included  therein. 
As  "Children  of  the  Resurrection/'  we  have  no  part 
in  what  is  commonly  called  death — that  visible  declen- 
sion and  dissolution  from  which  our  life  is  with- 
drawn, together  with  our  true  death,  leaving  the 
grave  no  victory. 

We  have  only  to  allow  ourselves  the  liberty  which 
science  takes,  to  arrive  at  this  view  as  a  philosophical 
conviction.  We  have,  indeed,  in  juvenescence  a  vis- 
ible illustration  of  an  ascent  of  life  upon  the  hidden 
wings  of  death.  If  men  were  distinguished  from 
all  other  organisms  by  the  possession  of  perpetual 
youth,  we  who  are  accustomed  to  associate  death  only 
with  decline  might  pronounce  him  deathless,  limiting 
the  province  of  mortality  to  those  organisms  whose 
descent  maintains  his  levitation.  Gravitation,  which 
is  the  physical  symbol  of  death,  was  before  Newton 
not  suspected  as  a  cosmic  principle.  Things  were 
seen  to  fall  upon  the  earth,  but  the  earth  was  not  seen 
to  fall  toward  the  sun ;  there  was,  indeed,  no  appre- 
ciable evidence  of  such  a  tendency.  Yet,  wholly 
apart  from  such  visible  signs  thereof,  Newton's  mys- 
tical imagination  leaped  to  the  truth  (afterward  rea- 
sonably confirmed)  that  all  bodies  are  falling  bod- 
ies ;  and  in  his  expression  of  this  truth  he  made  grav- 
itation something  more  than  is  indicated  in  the  out- 
ward aspects  of  falling  and  weight — he  called  it  an 
attraction,  so  that  his  thought  became  the  mystical 
apprehension  of  an  unseen  but  universal  cosmic  bond. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        105 

Thus  though  man  had  never  shown  any  visible  signs 
of  decline,  some  Newton  would  have  arisen  in  the 
physiological  field  and  asserted  his  mortality,  seeing 
that  in  youth  death  is  swallowed  up  of  life,  as  grav- 
itation is  in  the  ascent  of  every  organism  and  in  the 
sustained  distance  from  the  sun  of  every  planet. 

Every  organism  has  an  action  and  reaction  quite 
distinct  from  those  of  inorganic  substances,  and 
which  vanish  from  our  view  before  there  is  left 
behind  merely  "the  dust  that  riseth  up  and  is  lightly 
laid  again."  In  the  complex  human  life  there  is 
much  more  that  vanishes — the  passing  of  a  spiritual 
as  well  as  a  physiological  mystery,  far  withdrawn 
from  outward  observation  before  the  sceptical 
physicist  or  pessimist  seizes  upon  the  mere  residuum 
or  precipitate  as  the  object  of  his  fruitless  investiga- 
tion— fruitless,  at  least,  as  having  any  pertinence  to 
human  destiny.  The  body  which  Death  leaves 
behind  is  surrendered  to  that  inorganic  chemistry 
which  was  formerly  in  alliance  with  the  more  subtle 
actions  and  reactions  of  a  distinctively  human  life, 
and  to  the  physical  bond  of  gravitation  which  was 
once  the  condition  of  its  consistency  but  which  now 
brings  it  to  the  dust.  Are  we  any  more  mystical  than 
Newton  and  Laplace  in  our  conviction  that  Death  as 
a  part  of  the  higher  life  is  its  unseen  bond — the  way 
of  return  to  its  source? 

In  the  cycle  of  every  living  organism  there  is  a 
descending  as  well  as  an  ascending  movement — age 
as  well  as  youth,  so  that  the  forces  to  which  the  out- 
ward structure  is  finally  abandoned  seem  to  have 
upon  it  a  lien  anticipating  their  full  possession.  This 
is  simply  saying  that  the  life  and  death  proper  to  the 
organism  are  gradually  withdrawing  before  they 
together  wholly  vanish,  leaving  the  field  to  lower  life 
and  death.     But  there  is  no  claim  of  the  lower  upon 


■io6  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

the  higher,  save  through  the  surrender  made  by  the 
higher  as  a  part  of  its  proper  destiny.  The  signal 
of  retreat  is  not  given  from  without  but  from  the 
inmost  chamber  of  the  citadel,  where  reside  the  will 
and  intelligence  which  determined  the  distinctive 
architecture  of  the  marvellous  superstructure,  and 
which  hold  also  the  secret  of  its  ruin.  That  secret  is 
itself  genetic;  invisibly  it  looks  toward  palingenesis 
— toward  the  higher  transformation  of  the  vanishing 
life,  and  visibly  toward  the  outward  succession  of  a 
new  generation. 

So  Death  is  Janus-faced;  toward  an  unseen  resur- 
rection, a  reascendent  ministration,  and  toward  the 
visible  resurgence  of  new  life  upon  the  earth,  to 
which  it  ministers  by  descent  and  which,  in  the  case  of 
the  highest  organisms,  it  sustains  by  prodigal  expen- 
diture, during  a  period  of  helpless  infancy  and 
dependent  adolescence. 

Nor  is  Death  to  be  denied  aught  of  the  grace  and 
beauty  of  this  descent  and  costly  sacrifice,  aught  of 
the  sweetness  of  expiration — the  incense  of  its  con- 
suming flame,  since  these  truly  belong  to  the  weak- 
ness and  decrepitude,  to  the  rust  and  ashes,  to  the 
mere  outward  accidents  that  disguise  the  might  and 
kindliness  of   Death. 

ANOTHER  WORLD 

What  do  we  or  can  we  know  about  the  thither  side 
of  Death? 

There  is  no  sequel  to  the  story  of  Lazarus,  who 
was  raised  from  the  dead,  disclosing  the  secrets  of 
that  estate  which  had  been  a  reality  to  him  for  four 
days,  as  we  count  time  upon  the  earth. 

The  Lord  himself,  the  revealer,  in  a  singular 
sense,   of  spiritual  truth,   and  especially  the  illumi- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        107 

nator  of  Death,  gave,  so  far  as  we  know,  no  intima- 
tion to  his  disciples  of  the  life  beyond  the  grave.  Nor 
is  it  recorded  that  they  asked  for  any.  Death  was 
unmasqued  in  the  Resurrection  and  was  shown  as  one 
with  creation,  but  the  full  light  of  this  wonderful  illu- 
mination was  thrown  upon  life  here,  showing  not  one 
definite  lineament,  not  even  a  shadowy  trace  of  the 
life  beyond.  There  never  has  been  any  but  an 
imaginative  disclosure  of  that  life  to  men  living  upon 
the  earth.  .  .  .  "Another  world,"  considered 
as  a  definite  existence,  is  the  only  field  for  absolute 
agnosticism,  wholly  cut  off  from  human  knowledge 
through  sense,  intellect,  or  spiritual  apprehension ;  it 
is  not  veiled  but  absolutely  hidden,  and  of  it  there  is 
no  possible  revelation,  save  through  entrance  upon 
its  actualities,  when  it  ceases  to  be  "another."  We 
know  the  divine,  the  eternal ;  indeed,  these  alone  are 
really  known  since  life  itself  is  essentially  these ;  but 
what  we  call  another  world  is  not  simply  invisible, 
not  simply  a  future  or  a  next  world  in  the  sense  that 
we  think  of  to-morrow  or  next  year;  it  is  another  by 
an  inconceivable  diversity — a  distinct  harmonic  syn- 
thesis, for  us  unrelated,  and  untranslatable  in  any 
terms  known  to  us.  The  world  to  come  we  know, 
since  it  is  that  which  this  world  becomes.  Another 
world  is  a  new  becoming,  having  its  own  "world  to 
come;"  it  is  the  only  incommunicable.  No  divine 
revelation  has  ever  attempted  to  broach  the  inviolable 
secret.  Eye  hath  not  seen,  ear  hath  not  heard, 
neither  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  con- 
ceive. 

There  is  one  utterance  by  the  Lord,  recorded  in 
the  Gospel,  concerning  the  state  of  the  Children  of 
the  Resurrection:  "They  shall  not  marry,  nor  be 
given  in  marriage;  neither  shall  they  die  any  more." 
It  is  remarkable  that,   in  this  declaration,  sex  and 


108  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

death  are  joined  together,  as  science  shows  them  to 
be  in  the  specialization  of  organic  life.  The  Lord 
referred  to  sex  and  death  as  we  know  them,  in  their 
specialization.  While  the  essential  principle  of 
espousal  and  that  of  death  are  eternal,  proper  to 
any  life  here  or  hereafter,  it  is  possible  to  conceive  of 
a  state  of  existence  wherein  the  manifestation  of  these 
involves  none  of  the  external  features  associated  with 
our  knowledge  of  them  in  their  earthly  manifestation. 
As  there  are  lower  organisms  which  we  know  to  be 
sexless  and  deathless,  in  the  sense  we  have  of  sex  and 
death  in  an  advanced  specialization,  so  there  may  be 
higher  organisms,  belonging  to  that  "other  world," 
to  which  these  special  terms  are  inapplicable.  We 
say  there  may  be :  Christ  says  there  are ;  and  although 
this  assertion  is  the  only  one  made  by  him  directly 
bearing  upon  the  conditions  of  a  future  life,  it  is  very 
far-reaching  in  its  suggestions. 

Even  in  this  earthly  human  life  all  desire  is  spir- 
itually lifted  into  its  heaven,  not  as  being  destroyed, 
but  as  dying  to  one  environment  and  being  raised  into 
another,  where  its  manifestation  takes  higher  forms 
and  its  ministrations  seem  like  those  of  the  angels. 
It  is  as  if  out  of  the  earthly  matrix  of  Passion  had 
been  born  its  heavenly  embodiment,  not  associated 
with  corruption  and  so  seeming  something  deathless, 
though  it  lives  through  the  quickness  of  what  Death 
essentially  is  in  an  eternal  life.  It  is  possible  that 
the  Lord's  saying  had  its  real  meaning  as  applicable 
to  the  heavenly  exaltation  of  any  life,  present  or 
future.  Certainly  the  characteristic  of  Christian  life 
is  its  realization  here  of  an  eternal  life,  through  a  con- 
stant death  and  resurrection;  and  this  exaltation 
belongs  to  our  antipathies  as  well  as  to  our  sympa- 
thies— to  hate  and  anger  as  well  as  to  love ;  these  also 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

fALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        109 

having  their  heaven  and  angelic  scope,  in  a  field  of 
reconcilement. 

We  can  see,  then,  why  Christian  thought  is  fixed 
upon  a  World  to  Come  rather  than  upon  what  is 
called  Another  World.  This  present  life  has  part 
in  the  eternal  as  truly  as  any  life  ever  can  have.  We 
pass  from  glory  to  glory,  and  that  crisis  which  we 
call  death  is  only  a  transition  from  one  harmony  to 
another.  In  certain  forms  of  the  Polish  national 
dances,  the  guests  move  from  room  to  room  in  the 
palace,  the  music  and  the  movement  ever  changing 
in  the  processional  march,  according  to  the  progres- 
sive phases  of  the  theme  enacted.  From  beginning 
to  end  it  is  the  same  theme,  and  the  guests  are  the 
same.  So  it  may  be  in  the  progression  of  our  human 
life  from  one  mansion  to  another  of  the  Father's 
House;  there  is  a  mystic  change,  not  of  personalities 
but  of  special  individual  guises,  involving  complete 
divestiture,  the  theme  enacted  remaining  the  same. 

It  is  because  of  the  complete  divestiture  that  entire 
newness  is  possible.  Our  attention  is  so  fixed  upon 
structure  and  upon  changes  as  themselves  structural 
that  we  seem  at  a  loss  when  the  entire  structure  dis- 
appears from  our  view.  But  how  does  a  structure 
begin?  Is  not  birth  as  much  a  mystery  as  death? 
Form  is  of  the  essence;  and,  in  a  sense  not  to  be 
expressed  in  language,  the  personality  has  eternal 
form. 

The  formed  memory  and  the  formed  character 
may  be  destroyed ;  but  the  life  withdrawn  from  these, 
their  essential  ground,  has  its  spiritual  embodiment 
after  its  distinct  type,  still  remembering  and  recog- 
nizant.  The  "deeds  done  in  the  body"  are  not,  but 
the  doer  is,  and  according  to  those  deeds :  in  essential 
form  accordant,  whatever  the  new  environment.  The 
child  seems  an  entirely  new  creature,  but,  whatever 


no  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

science  may  determine  as  to  his  inheritance  of  char- 
acteristics acquired  in  preceding  generations,  he  is 
surely  and  wholly  an  heir  in  that  he  can  himself 
acquire  anything — an  heir,  not  simply  because  of  and 
in  relation  to  an  outward  heritage,  but  because  of 
what  he  is.  There  is  in  this  continuity  an  inscrut- 
able mystery;  that  which  determines  the  accord  in 
the  series  is  invisible.  It  is  the  mystery  of  Genesis 
itself.  The  continuity  phenomenally  is  through  dis- 
continuity; death  is  essential  in  birth  as  in  growth. 
Now,  let  the  break — that  interval  in  the  harmony 
which  we  call  death — be,  to  all  appearance,  absolute ; 
tjien  the  resurgence,  beyond  our  vision,  is  in  the 
very  field  of  creation;  passing  out  of  the  known 
series,  out  of  the  succession  of  what  we  know  as  in 
Time,  it  is  the  property  of  life  as  eternal,  the  herit- 
age of  the  eternal  kinship,  under  a  new  limitation. 

What  is  the  continuity  from  the  limitation  known 
to  us  to  that  new  and  wholly  unimaginable  limita- 
tion ?  The  mystery  is  transferred  from  the  visible  to 
an  invisible  death,  which  is  one  with  the  invisible 
birth.     But  the  new  birth — what  is  its  matrix? 

Suppose  we  were  permitted  to  resume  a  position  at 
a  point  in  time  before  the  appearance  of  organic  life 
upon  the  earth.  Would  any  then  existing  form  of 
inorganic  life  help  us  to  an  imagination  of  physiolog- 
ical embodiment:  Science  confesses  its  inability  to 
answer  the  question,  What  was  the  matrix  of  cell- 
life? 

An  equally  insoluble  mystery  is  presented,  if  we 
inquire  what  is  the  matrix  of  any  form,  or  how  the 
continuity  of  either  a  generic  or  an  individual  type 
of  organic  life  is  maintained  in  all  permutations  of 
environment.  It  is  a  mystery  belonging  to  creation, 
incommunicable,  itself  the  ground  of  communication. 
No  considerations  derived  from  what  we  know  of  the 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        in 

construction  of  matter  or  of  material  structures,  and 
none  derived  from  mental  categories,  explain  the 
transformations  of  the  visible  world;  how  much  less 
can  they  be  expected  to  even  suggest  the  forms  and 
limitations  of  an  order  of  existence  not  yet  creatively 
communicated ! 

Because  we,  in  our  present  existence,  have  no  con- 
scious knowledge  of  pre-existent  states,  it  does  not 
follow  that  the  future  life  will  be  wholly  denied  such 
knowledge.  Our  conscious  intelligence  here  is  a  dis- 
tinctive characteristic  of  the  ultimate  order  in  the 
known  series;  and  in  man  this  intelligence  involves 
peculiar  powers  of  reflection,  co-ordination,  and  inter- 
pretation, so  that  the  psychical  as  well  as  the  physical 
man  surmounts  the  entire  series  resumed  in  him.  In 
a  new  order  it  may  be  a  characteristic  of  the  creative 
communication  that  conscious  intelligence  shall  be  a 
clearer  resumption,  involving  at  least  the  conscious 
recognition  of  friends  and  kindred.  Our  cognition 
here  of  anything  is  unconsciously  re-cognition,  a  see- 
ing as  through  a  glass  darkly,  a  mere  adumbration  of 
a  recognition  hereafter  which  shall  be  a  seeing  face 
to  face.  Illusions  there  may  be — the  face  itself  is  a 
veil — but  there  may  be  a  more  transparent  media- 
tion in  the  communication,  undisturbed  by  the  obscu- 
rations and  refractions  such  as  limit  our  present 
mental  vision.  We  speak  of  what  may  be ;  every  pre- 
sumption of  a  revelation  which  is  itself  a  transcendent 
creative  communication  gives  assurance  instead  of 
mere  hypothesis. 

To  our  reason  this  subject  is  beset  with  difficulties, 
because  we  become  entangled  in  dilemmas  suggested 
by  present  relations,  such  as  imprisoned  the  minds  of 
the  Sadducees  in  the  problem  they  presented  to  Christ, 
Because  the  new  assumption  or  embodiment  is  not 
of  flesh  and  blood,  as  we  know  them,  it  is  not  neces- 


ii2  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

sary  to  suppose  that  it  is  immaterial.  To  it  a  new 
sensibility  and  a  new  thought  would  involve  space 
and  time  as  forms  to  which  our  corresponding  terms 
for  these  would  be  merely  analogues.  Given  us  a 
new  sensibility,  there  would  be  given  us  a  new  uni- 
verse. We  say  the  dead  have  passed  away  from  us, 
but  it  is  perfectly  reasonable  to  conceive  of  them  as 
nearer  to  us  than  ever,  in  a  closer  intimacy  than  any 
known  to  us. 

During  the  century  now  closing  man  has  made  an 
important  advance  through  dealing  with  subtle  cos- 
mic forces  which  had  hitherto  been  known  only  as 
dealing  with  him,  and,  even  thus,  scarcely  appreci- 
ated. Electrical  phenomena  had  been  observed  in 
sparks  occasioned  by  friction  and  in  the  lightning, 
and  the  magnetic  current  had  been  utilized  in  the  com- 
pass ;  but  the  terms  electricity  and  magnetism  had  but 
a  glint  of  the  meaning  now  attached  to  them.  We  do 
not  yet  know  what  these  invisible  currents  are,  but  we 
have  made  ourselves  at  home  with  them,  and  com- 
prehend what  formerly  was  not  suspected — their  inti- 
macies with  all  cosmic  operation  and  with  our  ani- 
mate economies.  For  the  obvious  terrestrial  forces, 
manifest  in  weight  and  pressure  and  elasticity,  we  are 
now  rapidly  substituting  these  finer  tensions,  thus 
driving  the  horses  of  the  suns  without  risking  the  fate 
of  Icarus.  It  is  as  if  our  solar  heritage  had  been 
restored  to  us.  Through  this  widened  familiarity  in 
a  field  which  until  so  recent  a  period  was  wholly  hid- 
den from  us,  we  have  reached  a  new  and  etherealized 
conception  of  matter,  and  have  come  to  feel  the  pulse 
of  a  living  universe.  Science  is  redeeming  matter, 
making  its  veils  transparent. 

In  this  new  view  it  is  not  difficult  for  us  to  con- 
ceive of  spiritual  intimacies  more  subtle  and  perva- 
sive than  any  which  science  has  disclosed  in  the  mate- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        113 

rial  world,  though  these  cannot  be  apparent  to  us  in 
a  definitely  conscious  appreciation.  If  on  the  same 
wire,  through  electrical  vibrations  in  musical  accord, 
several  distinct  messages  may  be  simultaneously  con- 
veyed, why  may  not  all  that  we  call  matter  be  at  the 
same  time  the  medium  for  the  expression  of  distinct 
orders  of  intelligence? 

All  reasoning  proceeds  through  analogy,  but  we 
must  be  on  our  guard  against  the  fallacy  involved  in 
the  process.  The  truth  in  physics  or  chemistry  can 
become  a  biological  truth  only  by  such  transformation 
as  is  involved  in  the  inorganic  world  becoming  the 
organic.  Any  conception  of  our  present  conditions 
carried  forward  into  our  imagination  of  those  per- 
tinent to  a  future  life  must  undergo  an  inconceivable 
and,  to  us  here,  impossible  transformation. 

What  we  know  as  good  and  evil,  life  and  death,  is 
but  the  analogue  to  these  as  we  shall  know  them  in 
another  harmony.  It  is  sufficient  for  us  that  in  the 
Christ-life  Death  and  Evil  are  unmasqued  for  us  and 
reconciled  with  the  Eternal  Life.  Our  faith  is  in  the 
Resurrection  through  the  power  of  this  eternal  life; 
in  what  form  we  know  not,  but  we  know  in  what  sim- 
ilitude— in  the  likeness  of  the  Son  of  God. 

Metuchen,  N.  J. 


Rufus  M.  Jones,  A.  M.,  Litt.  D.,  Editorial  in  The 
American  Friend. 

THE  CROWN  OF  LIFE 

The  mystery  of  death  is  immemorial.  It  has  puz- 
zled and  baffled  men  since  there  were  men.  Not  a 
syllable  ever  comes  back  to  tell  us  of  the  new  scenes 
and  the  changed  activities  upon  which  a  departed 
loved  one  has  entered.     Not  a  breathed  whisper  is 


ii4  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

granted  which  might  make  us  know  the  joy  of  being 
a  heavenly  inhabitant. 

The  age-long  secret  is  kept  from  us,  and  in  vain 
our  eyes  try  to  follow  beyond  these  shores  of  time 
and  place  and  sense.  The  imagination  cannot  pic- 
ture a  scene  except  with  the  material  which  it  has 
received  through  the  eye  and  ear  and  touch;  there- 
fore we  are  unable  to  construct  the  scenery  and  cir- 
cumstance of  a  newly-parted  soul,  for  we  have  no 
sense  relations  with  that  realm.  We  walk  here,  truly, 
"not  by  sight." 

But  yet  we  are  not  left  in  hopeless  confusion.  A 
great  spiritual  prophet  tells  us  that  those  who  over- 
come receive  "the  crown  of  life."  This  takes  us 
into  the  very  heart  of  mystery,  and  if  we  are  only 
spiritual  enough  to  see,  it  solves  our  problem. 

We  know  a  little  what  it  means  to  "overcome. " 
There  are  all  kinds  of  struggles  going  on  in  this 
world  for  all  kinds  of  victories  and  prizes,  but  the 
supreme  struggle  is  that  of  a  redeemed  inward  self,  a 
pure  heart,  a  life  victorious  over  sin,  and  a  nature 
in  which  selfishness  is  completely  replaced  by  love. 
We  do  not  need  now  to  tell  how  this  supreme  battle 
is  won,  for  that  would  be  to  tell  the  whole  gospel 
story.  But  it  is  enough  to  know  that  men — any  man 
— in  the  very  midst  of  temptation  and  sin  may  over- 
come.  What  shall  come  to  him  as  a  result — what 
does  he  "get"  when  he  has  overcome?  What  could 
he  receive  in  a  spiritual  world  but  a  crowned  and 
complete  life?  Anything  else  would  be  commercial, 
not  spiritual.  What  does  the  scholar  get  for  his  years 
of  patient  study  and  persistent  toil?  Not  merely 
degrees  after  his  name;  not  simply  prizes  and  tem- 
poral rewards;  not  primarily  a  professorship  some- 
where. He  has  the  reward  of  knowing;  he  finds  his 
chief  reward  in  his  enlarged  capacity  for  truth.   For 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        115 

him  who  overcomes  hard  intellectual  problems  there 
is  a  crown  of  education,  which  means  increased  capac- 
ity. The  reward  for  doing  anything  faithfully  and 
well  is  the  ability  to  do  it  better  and  to  do  harder 
things.  The  reward  for  bravery  is  greater  courage 
to  face  the  difficult  things  that  ought  to  be  done.  The 
reward  of  any  virtue  is  more  virtue  of  a  higher  order. 

Now  we  come  back  to  our  mystery  of  the  life 
beyond,  and  we  ask  our  immemorial  question.  How 
fares  it  with  our  beloved  dead?  Whatever  else  heaven 
may  be,  it  is  the  crown  of  life.  The  spirit  that  has 
fought  selfishness,  as  Paul  fought  beasts  at  Ephesus, 
for  the  love  of  Christ;  the  soul  that  has  learned  to 
give  itself  to  others  out  of  pure  love,  as  Christ  gave 
Himself;  the  heart  that  loves  God's  will,  no  matter 
through  how  hard  a  path  it  may  sometimes  lead,  can 
have  but  one  goal  in  God's  spiritual  universe.  There 
can  be  but  one  result  if  God  is  God. 

It  must  be  a  divine  law  that  such  a  life  enters  into 
larger  life.  Every  spiritual  victory  through  the 
earthly  life  increases  the  capacity  of  the  soul  for  more 
life;  every  expression  of  love  adds  to  the  power  of 
loving;  every  pulse  of  sympathy  makes  the  heart 
larger  and  so  life's  crown  comes.  We  cannot  follow 
the  course  of  a  dear  soul  who  drops  the  visible  to 
enter  the  invisible;  we  cannot  picture  or  imagine  the 
new  activities  or  forecast  the  daily  life  of  the  heavenly 
saint;  but  we  do  know  that  that  life  completes  this 
and  crowns  it,  as  the  wise  thought  and  trained  intel- 
lect of  the  white-haired  scholar  crowns  the  honest 
effort  of  the  young  student  who  solves  the  problem 
before  him ;  as  the  noble  spirit,  the  four-square  char- 
acter and  the  perfect  deed  crown  the  first  right  choices 
which  shaped  the  boy's  life. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


n6  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Gen.  Lew  Wallace,  Lawyer  and  Author,  in  "Ben 
Hur."* 

"I  cannot  tell  you  when  the  idea  of  a  Soul  in  every 
man  had  its  origin.  Most  likely  the  first  parents 
brought  it  with  them  out  of  the  garden  in  which  they 
had  their  first  dwelling.  We  all  do  know,  however, 
that  it  has  never  perished  entirely  out  of  mind.  By 
some  people  it  was  lost,  but  not  by  all ;  in  some  ages 
it  dulled  and  faded;  in  others  it  was  overwhelmed 
with  doubt;  but,  in  great  goodness,  God  kept  send- 
ing us  at  intervals  mighty  intellects  to  argue  it  back  to 
faith  and  hope. 

"Why  should  there  be  a  Soul  in  every  man  ?  Look, 
O  son  of  Hur,  for  one  moment  look  at  the  necessity 
of  such  a  device.  To  lie  down  and  die,  and  be  no 
more — no  more  forever — time  never  was  when  man 
wished  for  such  an  end;  nor  has  the  man  ever  been 
who  did  not  in  his  heart  promise  himself  something 
better.  The  monuments  of  the  nations  are  all  pro- 
tests against  nothingness  after  death;  so  are  statues 
and  inscriptions;  so  is  history.  The  greatest  of  our 
Egyptian  kings  had  his  effigy  cut  out  of  a  hill  of  solid 
rock.  Day  after  day  he  went  with  a  host  in  chariots 
to  see  the  work;  at  last  it  was  finished,  never  effigy 
so  grand,  so  enduring;  it  looked  like  him — the  fea- 
tures were  his,  faithful  even  in  expression.  Now  may 
we  not  think  of  him  saying  in  that  moment  of  pride, 
'Let  Death  come;  there  is  an  after-life  for  me!'  He 
had  his  wish.    The  statue  is  there  yet. 

uBut  what  is  the  after-life  he  thus  secured?  Only 
a  recollection  by  men — a  glory  unsubstantial  as  moon- 
shine on  the  brow  of  the  great  bust;  a  story  in  stone 
— nothing  more.  Meantime  what  has  become  of  the 
king?    There  is  an  embalmed  body  up  in  the  royal 

*Dicd  Feb,  15,  1905. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        117 

tombs  which  once  was  his — an  effigy  not  so  fair  to 
look  at  as  the  other  out  in  the  Desert.     But  where, 

0  son  of  Hur,  where  is  the  king  himself?  Is  he  fallen 
into  nothingness?  Two  thousand  years  have  gone 
since  he  was  a  man  alive — as  you  and  I  are.  Was  his 
last  breath  the  end  of  him? 

uTo  say  yes  would  be  to  accuse  God;  let  us  rather 
accept  his  better  plan  of  attaining  life  after  death 
for  us — actual  life,  I  mean — the  organization  of  my 
soul,  and  every  arrangement  for  the  life  after  death. 

1  know  He  loves  me. 

"I  might  ask  you  now  whether  this  human  life,  so 
troubled  and  brief,  is  preferable  to  the  perfect  and 
everlasting  life  designed  for  the  Soul?  But  take 
the  question,  and  think  of  it  for  yourself,  formulat- 
ing thus:  Supposing  both  to  be  equally  happy,  is 
one  hour  more  desirable  than  one  year?  from  that, 
then  advance  to  the  final  inquiry,  what  are  three- 
score and  ten  years  on  earth  to  all  eternity  with  God  ? 
By-and-by,  son  of  Hur,  thinking  in  such  manner,  you 
will  be  filled  with  the  meaning  of  the  fact  I  present 
you  next,  to  me  the  most  amazing  of  all  events,  and 
in  its  effects  the  most  sorrowful;  it  is  that  the  very 
idea  of  life  as  a  Soul  is  a  light  almost  gone  out  of  the 
world.  Here  and  there,  to  be  sure,  a  philosopher 
may  be  found  who  will  talk  to  you  of  a  soul,  likening 
it  to  a  principle ;  but  philosophers  take  nothing  upon 
faith,  they  will  not  go  the  length  of  admitting  a  soul 
to  be  a  being,  and  on  that  account  its  purpose  is  com- 
pressed darkness  to  them. 

uEverything  animate  has  a  mind  measurable  by  its 
wants.  Is  there  to  you  no  meaning  in  the  singularity 
that  power  in  full  degree  to  speculate  upon  the 
future  was  given  to  man  alone  ?  By  the  sign  as  I  see 
it,  God  meant  to  make  us  know  ourselves  created  for 
another  and  a  better  life,   such  being  in   fact  the 


n8  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

greatest  need  of  our  nature.  But,  alas,  into  what 
a  habit  the  nations  have  fallen !  They  live  for  the 
day,  as  if  the  present  were  the  all  in  all,  and  go  about 
saying,  'There  is  no  to-morrow  after  death;  or  if 
there  be,  since  we  know  nothing  about  it  be  it  a  care 
unto  itself.'  So  when  Death  calls  them,  'Come,'  they 
may  not  enter  into  enjoyment  of  the  glorious  after- 
life because  of  their  unfitness.  That  is  to  say,  the 
ultimate  happiness  of  man  was  everlasting  life  in  the 
society  of  God.  Alas,  O  son  of  Hur,  that  I  should 
say  it !  but  as  well  yon  sleeping  camel  constant  in  such 
society  as  the  holiest  priests  this  day  serving  the  high- 
est altars  in  the  most  renowned  temples.  So  much  are 
men  given  to  this  as  something  more  than  a  place  in 
mortal  memory;  life  with  going  and  coming,  with 
sensation,  with  knowledge,  with  power  and  all  appre- 
ciation; life  eternal  in  term  though  it  may  be  with 
changes  of  condition. 

uAsk  you  what  God's  plan  is?  The  gift  of  a 
Soul  to  each  of  us  at  birth,  with  this  simple  law — 
there  shall  be  no  immortality  except  through  the 
Soul.  In  that  law  see  the  necessity  of  which  I  spoke. 
"Let  us  turn  from  the  necessity  now.  A  word  as 
to  the  pleasure  there  is  in  the  thought  of  a  Soul  in 
each  of  us.  In  the  first  place,  it  robs  death  of  its  ter- 
rors by  making  dying  a  change  for  the  better,  and 
burial  but  the  planting  of  a  seed  from  which  there 
will  spring  a  new  life.  In  the  next  place,  behold  me 
as  I  am — weak,  weary,  old,  shrunken  in  body,  and 
graceless;  look  at  my  wrinkled  face,  think  of  my 
failing  senses,  listen  to  my  shrilled  voice.  Ah !  what 
happiness  to  me  in  the  promise  that  when  the  tomb 
opens,  as  soon  it  will,  to  receive  the  worn-out  husk 
I  call  myself,  the  now  viewless  doors  of  the  universe, 
which  is  but  the  palace  of  God,  will  swing  wide  ajar 
to  receive  me,  a  liberated  immortal  soul! 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        119 

"I  would  I  could  tell  the  ecstasy  there  must  be  in 
that  life  to  come !  Do  not  say  I  know  nothing  about 
it.  This  much  I  know,  and  it  is  enough  for  me — the 
being  a  Soul  implies  conditions  of  divine  superiority. 
In  such  a  being  there  is  no  dust,  nor  any  gross  thing; 
it  must  be  finer  than  air,  more  impalpable  than  light, 
purer  than  essence — it  is  life  in  absolute  purity. 

"What  now,  O  son  of  Hur,  knowing  so  much,  shall 
I  dispute  with  myself  or  you  about  the  unnecessaries 
— about  the  form  of  my  Soul?  Or  where  it  is  to 
abide  ?  Or  whether  it  eats  and  drinks  ?  Or  is  winged, 
or  wears  this  or  that?  No.  It  is  more  becoming  to 
trust  in  God.  The  beautiful  in  this  world  is  all  form, 
his  hand  declaring  the  perfection  of  taste;  he  is  the 
author  of  all  form ;  he  clothes  the  lily,  he  colors  the 
rose,  he  distils  the  dewdrop,  he  makes  the  music  of 
nature ;  in  a  word,  he  organized  us  for  this  life,  and 
imposed  its  conditions;  and  they  are  such  guaranty 
to  me  that,  trustful  as  a  little  child,  I  leave  to  him 
the  lower  earthly  life!  So  nearly  have  they  forgot- 
ten that  other  which  is  to  come! 

uSee  now,  I  pray  you,  that  which  is  to  be  saved 
to  us. 

"For  my  part,  speaking  with  the  holiness  of  truth, 
I  would  not  give  one  hour  of  life  as  a  Soul  for  a 
thousand  years  of  life  as  a  man." 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 


J.  H.  Kellogg,  M.  D.,  Superintendent  Battle  Creek 
Sanitarium,  President  International  Medical 
Missionary  and  Benevolent  Association  and  In- 
ternational Health  Association,  in  "The  Liv- 
ing Temple" 

THE  SOUL  OF  MAN 

All  nations  which  have  attained  any  degree  of 


120  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

enlightenment  have  had  some  belief  in  relation  to  the 
human  soul.  This  belief  has  always  been  connected 
with  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life.  A  chief  function 
of  the  soul  is  the  identification  of  the  individual  in  the 
future  state  of  existence.  The  soul  is  thus  intimately 
associated  with  the  personality,  the  individuality,  the 
identifying   principle. 

The  greatest  of  all  teachers  clearly  recognized  the 
soul  as  that  upon  which  the  future  life  of  the  individ- 
ual depends.  uAnd  I  say  unto  you  my  friends,  Be 
not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,  and  after 
that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do."  uFear  not 
them  which  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the 
soul;  but  rather  fear  him  which  is  able  to  destroy 
both  soul  and  body  in  hell."  Luke  XII 14;  Matt. 
X:28. 

Most  popular  beliefs  respecting  the  soul  are  based 
upon  conjecture,  or  a  confusion  of  Biblical  teachings, 
or  both.  It  is  the  studied  effort  of  the  author  in  this 
work  to  find  a  solid  scientific  basis  for  harmony 
between  the  teachings  of  nature  and  the  teach- 
ings of  inspiration.  .  .  .  The  fact  that  the 
essential  purpose  of  the  soul  is  to  identify  the 
individual  in  the  future  world,  to  connect  the 
experience  of  this  life  with  that  of  the  future,  really 
leaves  us  scarcely  more  to  do  than  to*  find  what  is  this 
identifying  element.  There  have  been  those  who 
sought  to  maintain  that  the  material  substance  of 
the  body  is  the  means  of  identification  in  the  world 
to  come.  So  able  a  commentator  as  Adam  Clarke 
held  this  view.  Nevertheless,  the  well-known  facts 
of  science  forbid  us  to>  entertain  this  notion.  The 
constant  changing  of  the  matter  of  the  body  destroys 
its  value  as  an  identifying  element.  The  fact  that  the 
same  matter  may  have  successively  occupied,  even 
at  the  moment  of  death,  many  different  human  bod- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        121 

ies,  also  raises  an  insurmountable  objection  to  the 
material  substance  of  the  body  as  the  identifying  prin- 
ciple, or  the  soul  of  man,  the  essence  of  human  indi- 
viduality. 

Man  is  not  during  life  identified  by  the  sameness 
of  matter  or  substance,  for  his  material  make-up  is 
subject  to  perpetual  change,  as  we  have  seen.  It  is 
incredible  to-  suppose  that  a  thing  which  during  life 
is  immaterial  for  the  maintenance  of  personality  or 
individuality,  should  after  death  become  absolutely 
essential.  The  identifying  principle  cannot  change. 
Continuity  or  continuousness  of  existence  is  its  essen- 
tial element.  It  cannot  identify  the  body  unless  it 
has  been  with  it  all  the  time.  The  identifying  prin- 
ciple in  man,  as  we  have  seen,  is  form,  organization. 
The  sum  total  of  individual  characteristics  consti- 
tutes the  identifying  element.  The  plan  of  the  tem- 
ple is  its  soul ;  not  the  external  form,  nor  merely  the 
internal  arrangement,  but  the  entire  temple  scheme, 
including  the  minutest  details  of  bodily  form  and 
structure.  Every  brain  cell,  every  nerve  fiber,  every 
string  of  the  living  harp,  every  tone  which  it  pro- 
duces, a  complete  description  of  the  human  instru- 
ment and  every  particle  of  its  work  in  human  acts 
and  words  and  thoughts, — all  these  are  recorded: 
where? — In  the  universal  mind,  in  the  memory  of 
Him  who  said,  "Before  I  formed  thee  I  knew  thee." 
Jer.  1:5.  Said  David,  "In  thy  book  all  my  members 
were  written,  which  in  continuance  were  fashioned, 
when  as  yet  there  was  none  of  them."  Ps.  CXXXIX: 
16.  The  same  power  that  formed  David  in  accord- 
ance with  a  plan  which  existed  before  he  did,  car- 
rying forward  this  same  plan  represented  in  David's 
character,  his  personality,  remembered  in  the  mind 
of  God  even  from  before  his  birth,  can  reform  him 
in  the  future  world,  and  so  secure  to  him  a  future  life. 


122  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

David  recognized  the  existence  of  such  a  record 
before  his  birth,  and  the  Bible  in  many  places  recog- 
nizes the  existence  of  such  a  record  of  all  human  lives. 
God's  presence  in  the  temple  gives  him  the 
minutest  information  possible  respecting  every  detail 
of  its  history;  not  an  outward  act  nor  an  innermost 
thought  can  escape  His  notice.  Although  a  man  may 
die,  although  his  very  thoughts  may  perish,  his  per- 
sonality, his  character,  survives.  Without  a  human 
brain  there  can  be,  of  course,  no  human  thinking,  no 
human  willing,  no  human  joy  or  sorrow.  With  the 
death  of  the  body  the  man  ceases  to  be;  the  spirit 
of  life,  the  vital  power  which  animates  the  dust  of 
which  his  body  is  composed,  and  makes  him  a  living 
soul,  returns  to  God  who  gave  it.  The  human  will 
surrenders  its  authority  and  control.  God  no  longer 
serves.  Man  goes  to  his  ulong  home,"  the  dust;  the 
divine  spirit  which  dwelt  in  the  temple,  the  creative 
power  which  formed  him,  which  cared  for  him  dur- 
ing life,  which  shared  all  his  sorrows,  his  griefs,  his 
struggles,  bore  his  burdens,  which  uknoweth  his 
frame"  in  its  minutest  detail,  survives  the  wreck  of 
the  body.  And  thus  while  man's  body  smolders  in 
the  dust,  his  individuality,  his  "life,"  his  soul  (not 
his  human  consciousness),  is  safely  lodged  in  the 
great  heart  of  God,  awaiting  that  critical  moment  to 
which  the  ages  have  looked  forward  when  a  purified 
universe  will  permit  of  the  rehabilitation  of  the  souls 
of  those  who  have  loved  righteousness  and  truth,  and 
are  hence  suited  to  an  endless  life  "in  tune  with  the 
Infinite."  Such  will  enter  upon  a  state  of  endless 
spiritual  human  existence  through  the  building  for 
each  of  a  body  suited  to  its  character,  and  capable 
of  reaching  the  high  ideals  and  responding  to  the 
highest  purposes  to  which  the  soul  in  its  previous  state 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        123 

of  existence  may  have  aspired,  but  which,  through 
weakness  of  the  flesh,  it  could  but  imperfectly  attain. 

The  soul  is  that  subtle  and  mysterious  element 
which  determines  what  shall  be  the  individual  form 
and  characteristics  of  every  human  being,  even  from 
the  earliest  moment  of  its  existence.  No  matter  how 
diverse  circumstances  and  conditions  may  be  from 
those  natural  to  the  individual,  if  life  is  maintained, 
the  characteristic  features  are  developed  and  pre- 
served. The  negro  infant  develops  into  a  negro  man, 
whether  born  in  the  tropical  jungles  of  Africa  or 
among  the  snowfields  of  the  arctic  regions.  We  see 
the  same  principle  in  operation  in  lower  living  forms 
as  well  as  in  man  in  the  wonderful  phenomena  of 
heredity.  Wheat  develops  wheat,  not  rye,  rice,  or 
barley,  and  each  variety  of  wheat  produces  its  own 
kind.  In  every  seed  there  is  a  perfect  representation 
of  the  whole  plant  which  may  spring  from  the  seed. 
In  the  tiny  acorn,  though  invisible  to  human  eyes, 
there  is  a  perfect  representation  of  the  giant  oak 
which  a  hundred  years  later  may  tower  majestically 
above  the  spot  on  which  the  acorn  falls.  The  oak  is 
not  in  the  acorn,  but  is  represented  there,  not  as  a 
conscious  entity,  but  something  greater.  To  explain 
its  essence  would  be  to  explain  life  itself;  to  under- 
stand its  mode  of  procedure  would  be  to  comprehend 
the  infinite. 

We  perhaps  cannot  find  a  better  expression  for 
the  thought  than  that  of  the  eminent  Dr.  Hoffding, 
Professor  of  Philosophy  and  Psychology  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Copenhagen,  who  in  his  lectures  represents 
to  his  students  the  matter  of  the  body  as  the  instru- 
ment, with  life  (God)  the  player,  while  the  soul  is 
its  music.  It  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  com- 
prehend clearly  the  properties  of  the  soul  or  its  func- 
tions.   It  is  only  necessary  for  us  to  know  that  there 


i24  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

is  a  soul,  and  that  the  soul  is  capable  of  preserving 
our  individuality  and  identity  amid  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  life,  and  that  even  in  death,  it  still  remains  as  a 
guarantee  and  a  means  of  an  individual  life  beyond 
the  grave. 

That  there  will  be  such  a  future  life  is  proved — 
we  do  not  hesitate  to  use  the  word  proved — by  evi- 
dence which  we  possess  within  ourselves,  in  addition 
to  the  abundant  assurance  of  Holy  Writ.  Every 
human  instinct,  mental,  moral,  and  physical,  look- 
ing toward  human  welfare,  is  heaven-implanted,  is  a 
divine  voice  speaking  to  man.  For  example,  the  full 
significance  of  hunger  is  not  simply  that  food  is 
needed,  but  that  there  is  food  to  satisfy  the  need.  If 
there  were  not  food,  there  would  be  no  hunger.  A 
kind  Creator  would  not  give  to  man,  as  a  race  of  be- 
ings, an  appetite  which  could  never  be  satisfied. 

The  love  of  life  is  the  most  imperious  of  all  human 
instincts.  We  labor,  toil,  endure  hardships  and  suf- 
ferings, in  order  that  we  may  live.  The  animal  has 
no  instinct  leading  it  forward  to  a  future  state  of  exis- 
tence. It  lives  in  the  present  only,  and  provides  only 
to  meet  its  present  needs,  or  those  of  the  immediate 
future.  Man,  of  all  living  creatures,  grasps  a  con- 
ception of  life  beyond  the  grave;  especially  when  he 
sees  his  present  life  drawing  toward  its  close,  how 
eagerly  he  grasps  the  hope  of  a  life  beyond.  This 
instinct  is  the  divine  voice  which  answers  for  the  race 
the  old  question,  "If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again?" 
and  assures  him  of  a  life  beyond  the  grave.  This 
conception,  this  belief,  is  necessary  for  the  develop- 
ment of  that  which  is  best  and  noblest  in  man  in  this 
life,  and  is  essential  as  a  stimulus  to  him  to  make  the 
needed  preparation  for  the  next. 

Battle  Creek,  Mich. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        125 

Ira  Remsen,  M.  D.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of 
Johns  Hopkins  University  and  Professor  of 
Chemistry ,  Editor  American  Chemical  Journal, 
in  <(Science  and  Immortality  "  a  Symposium 
Edited  by  Samuel  J.  Barrows. 
I  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  answer  the  questions 
propounded  by  you,  the  chief  difficulty  arising  from 
the  fact  that  "personal  consciousness"  is  an  expression 
which  cannot  be  defined.  We  do  not  know  what  it  is. 
It  is  undoubtedly  in  some  wonderful  way  connected 
with  the  workings  of  the  brain.  Whether  it  is  some- 
thing which  is  capable  of  existence  independently  of 
the  existence  of  the  brain  is,  it  appears  to  me,  the  first 
point  to  be  decided.  I  do  not  know  of  "any  facts  in 
the  possession  of  modern  science"  which  enable  us  to 
answer  this  question.  If  it  could  be  shown  that  "per- 
sonal consciousness"  is  necessarily  connected  with 
the  workings  of  the  brain,  a  strong  argument  would 
thus  be  furnished  against  its  immortality.  It  seems 
to  me  possible  that  researches  in  the  realm  of  psycho- 
physics,  including  observations  in  those  whose  brains 
do  not  work  normally,  may  eventually  throw  some 
light  upon  the  subject  of  "personal  consciousness." 
You  will  see,  therefore,  that  I  do  not  "consider  the 
question  out  of  the  pale  of  science  altogether." 

As  regards  the  question  whether  there  is  "anything 
in  such  discoveries  to  support  or  strengthen  a  belief 
in  immortality,"  I  can  only  say  that  the  whole  ten- 
dency of  modern  science  is  to  show  that  immortality, 
not  necessarily  of  "personal  consciousness,"  but  im- 
mortality in  a  broad  sense,  appears  to  be  a  necessary 
consequence  of  the  workings  of  the  laws  of  nature. 

Investigations  in  every  subject  are  leading  us  to  a 
clearer  recognition  of  the  truth;  and  I  have  strong 
faith  that  the  more  clearly  we  recognize  it,  the  better 
we  shall  be.    Our  views  on  many  subjects  are  under- 


126  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

going  change, — in  most  cases,  I  am  convinced,  for  the 
better.  Should  our  views  regarding  the  immortality 
of  upersonal  consciousness"  undergo  a  radical  change, 
higher  views  of  man's  relation  to  the  universe  would 
take  their  place,  and  still  stronger  reasons  for  living 
honest,  righteous  lives  would  be  recognized.  I  make 
these  last  statements  to  indicate  my  ideas  in  regard 
to  the  tendency  of  modern  science  in  its  bearing  upon 
the  subject  you  have  brought  under  discussion. 
Baltimore,  Md. 


James  Mark  Baldwin,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.,  Sc.D.  (Ox- 
ford)  •  LL.D.  ( Glasgow) ,  Professor  of  Psychol- 
ogy, Johns  Hopkins  University;  Editor  Psycho- 
logical Review;  in  the  New  York  Indepen- 
dent* 

THEISM  AND  IMMORTALITY 

In  the  first  place,  the  way  of  approaching  the  ques- 
tion of  a  future  life  is  still,  as  formerly,  but  more 
emphatically,  the  way  of  the  theistic  problem.  The 
existence  of  God  in  a  future  life — that  is  the  very 
meaning  of  a  future  life.  If  the  philosopher  finds 
himself  unable  to  realize  a  fair  degree  of  assurance 
that  the  world  has  in  it  a  great  Intelligence,  whose 
thought  the  world  is,  whose  existence  is  of  old,  who 
is  ever  living  while  the  universe  is,  and  just  because 
the  universe  cannot  be  without  it — then  such  a  one 
finds  that  there  is  no  meaning  in  the  question  of  a 
future  life;  for  in  criticizing  God  out  of  the  universe, 
he  has  laid  himself  low,  and  all  other  intellectual  and 
moral  beings,   too.     The  lesser  must  go  with   the 


^Included    in   "Fragments   in    Philosophy   and    Science," 
Chas.  Scribner's  Sons,  Publishers. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        127 

greater ;  God  gone,  who  are  we  ?  This  is,  as  I  have 
intimated,  an  old  way  of  getting  at  the  question  of 
immortality,  the  way  through  the  theistic  problem; 
but  philosophy  has  seemed  to  confirm  it  in  two  ways : 
by  naturalizing  God,  if  I  may  so  speak,  and  then  by 
supernaturalizing  nature,  especially  human  nature, 
man.  These  points  may  be  explained  a  little;  and  I 
may  best  do  it  by  drawing  on  psychology. 

The  old  theistic  "proofs"  were  argumentative,  log- 
ical. They  proceeded  on  certain  psychological 
assumptions,  it  is  true,  such  as  the  uidea  of  God," 
"the  idea  of  the  perfect,"  the  "notion  of  design,"  etc. 
But  these  psychological  assumptions  were  uncriti- 
cized.  The  stress  fell  on  the  arguments.  As  argu- 
ments they  must  conform  to  rigid  logical  rules  and 
formulas — formulas  which  took  the  ideas  and  notions 
out  of  the  living  whole  of  our  thought  for  the  most 
part,  and  made  them  abstractions  to  be  reasoned 
about.  Now  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  such  argu- 
mentation has  no  value;  it  was  the  method  of 
philosophy  when  Descartes  announced  his  "first  and 
second  ontological"  arguments,  and  when  Anselm 
developed  his  famous  argument  from  the  "perfec- 
tion" of  the  notion  of  God.  But  it  is  now  evident 
from  the  course  of  thought  on  the  question,  that  the 
validity  of  such  proofs  rests  on  the  straightness  and 
correctness  of  the  argument;  on  the  "distribution" 
of  this  term  and  the  "quantification,"  or  the  "uni- 
versality," or  the  "conceivableness,"  of  that.  Kant 
saw  that  the  risk  in  this  was  too  large.  God  is  too 
great  a  concession  to  make  to  logical  formulas.  It 
will  never  satisfy  mankind  to  make  God  a  "notion" 
in  the  first  place — a  logical  universal — and  then  try 
by  formulas  to  get  a  corresponding  "reality"  into 
human  life.  Such  proofs — even  granted  that  they 
"proved" — so  long  as  they  stood  alone,  really  "denat- 


128  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

uralized"  God  out  of  his  own  universe.  They  led 
right  on  to  Deism.  And  it  was  Kant's  endeavor, 
after  showing  this,  to  "naturalize"  God  again 
through  what  he  called  the  "moral  argument."  And 
with  what  I  am  thus  calling  in  a  figure  the  "natural- 
ization" of  God,  in  man  and  nature,  Kant  found 
belief  in  immortality  also. 

Now  I  am  going  to  put  this  "moral  argument"  in 
my  own  way  and  on  strictly  psychological  grounds. 
What  we  really  want  to  know  in  this  matter  of  theism 
is  whether  God  is  a  reality.  And  instead  of  starting 
to  find  out  what  the  idea  of  God  includes,  psychology 
rather  begins  at  the  other  end;  it  seeks  to  find  out 
what  we  mean  by  reality.  What  is  real?  How  is 
anything  real? 

The  answer  is — assuming  much  analysis  and  criti- 
cism— that  the  real  is  that  which  we  actually  find, 
what  we  cannot  help  finding,  what  we  have  to  reckon 
with,  what  our  nature  presupposes  and  inevitably 
demands.  Things  and  events  are  divided  off,  in  our 
mental  lives  and  with  the  growth  of  our  experience, 
into  certain  great  groups  representing  kinds,  or 
spheres,  of  reality.  The  development  of  these  spheres 
is  a  matter  of  practical  necessity  with  us;  we  have 
to  distinguish  the  external  world  from  the  world  of 
memory,  the  world  of  science  from  the  world  of  art. 
In  these  things  we  have  no  choice,  provided — we  be 
not  crazy !  Now  what  we  mean  by  "reality"  is  just  a 
group  of  experiences  normally  organized  in  a  certain 
way;  and  we  believe  in  realities  when  we  recognize 
this  tendency  of  our  experiences  to  fall  into  certain 
characteristic  forms  of  organization.  We  do  the 
organizing,  and  so  assert  the  reality  as  being  there  to 
be  organized.  These  realities  we  need,  and  we  use 
them  practically  as  termini,  fulcra,  points  of  resist- 
ance, for  our  active  conduct  and  living. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        129 

A  reality,  then,  is  a  form  of  organized  experience 
which  our  mental  nature  has  to  have  in  order  to  be 
the  mental  nature  it  is,  and  to  grow  as  such.  We 
naturally  demand  these  realities,  because  we  are  get- 
ting them  in  answer  to  this  demand.  And  that  we 
need  them  and  get  them,  that  is  their  proof.  That 
the  external  world  is  real  means  simply  that  it  is  an 
inevitable  way  that  the  mind  has  of  organizing  what 
it  finds  in  that  certain  sphere  of  its  experience  which 
we  call  sense-perception.  Truth  is  the  sort  of  reality 
which  we  reach  by  an  equally  inexorable  demand  of 
our  nature  that  we  recognize  what  is  logical.  And 
our  ethical  and  religious  life  in  organizing  its  expe- 
rience reaches  the  reality  which  we  call  God.  I  had 
occasion  to  say  what  follows  sometime  ago  in  a  book 
written  for  scientific  purposes  only: 

"There  is  moral  and  esthetic  reality  no  less  than 
logical  reality,  and  there  is  the  same  reason  for  believ- 
ing in  the  one  that  there  is  in  the  other,  for  both  rest 
upon  the  fact  that  our  mental  nature  demands  cer- 
tain kinds  of  satisfaction,  and  we  find  it  possible  to 
get  them.  Sensational  reality  will  not  satisfy  our  log- 
ical demands,  for  nature  is  often  refractory  and  illog- 
ical. Neither  will  logic  satisfy  our  moral  and  esthetic 
demands  for  the  logically  true  is  often  immoral  and 
hideous.  It  is  well,  therefore,  to  write  large  the  truth 
that  logical  consistency  is  not  the  whole  of  reality, 
and  the  revolt  of  the  heart  against  fact  is  often  as 
legitimate  a  measure  of  the  true  in  this  shifting  uni- 
verse, as  is  the  cold  denial  given  by  rational  convic- 
tion to  the  vagaries  of  casual  feeling." 

This  is  what  I  mean  by  the  word  "naturalization;" 
this  finding  of  the  sort  of  reality  we  need  in  the  expe- 
rience which  stimulates  the  need.  God  is  the  reality 
which  our  moral  and  spiritual  nature  needs  and  finds, 
and  to  make  his  reality  depend  entirely  on  the  ability 


i3o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

of  the  logical  process  to  cope  with  his  reality — that 
seems  to  me  to  "denaturalize"  him  out  of  the  very 
sphere  in  which  alone  his  reality  has  any  significance. 
What  we  need  in  God  is  a  personal  presence,  not  a 
logical  postulate.  To  the  Deist,  God  is  not  a  pres- 
ence, he  is  afar  off;  he  is  not  a  citizen  of  the  world, 
our  mental  world;  he  is  the  director  of  a  machine, 
who  is  somewhat  afraid  of  his  machine  and  only 
touches  it  when  he  has  to.  And  there  are  a  good 
many  theological  Deists  in  these  days. 

Of  course  the  strength  of  this  position  is  the 
psychological  view  that  the  final  needs  of  our  nature 
— those  that  arise  in  the  organization  of  experience 
in  this  form  or  that — are  all  "equal  before  law." 
Each  is  its  own  justification.  So  much  comes  from 
psychology.  But  logic  also  has  now  practically 
accepted  as  much.  The  doctrine  of  "judgment"  in 
the  later  Logics  (Brentano,  Erdmann,  Sigwart)  rests 
upon  the  same  truth.  Judgment  is  mental  assent, 
acceptance,  assurance,  ratification  of  reality.  With- 
out this,  logic  is  a  shell  of  tautologies.  So,  even  in 
logic,  proof  is  no  longer  a  thing  merely  of  "moods 
and  figures;"  it  is  a  matter  of  belief.  No  logic  as 
such  can  prove  reality,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  no 
logic  can  eradicate  belief  in  it,  nor  in  any  item  of  it, 
from  external  reality  up  to  God. 

This  general  point  of  view  is  now  current  in  the 
most  diverse  philosophies,  since  they  are  becoming 
more  agreed  on  their  common  psychological  founda- 
tions. Call  it  the  "immanence"  of  God  with  the 
idealists— --all  right;  that  does  away  entirely  with  the 
"denaturalization"  process.  Call  it  "law"  with  the 
naturalists — all  right,  Mr.  Balfour's  recent  grotesque 
scare-crow  picture  of  the  "naturalist"  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding,  for  who  would  be  "naturalized"  in 
a  kingdom  without  law,  or  where  the  law  laid  waste 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        131 

the  very  mental  nature  on  the  basis  of  which  he 
reached  his  belief  in  the  kingdom?  Mental  law  is 
natural  law.  It  is  just  the  postulate  of  immortality 
that  there  is  continuity  of  mental  life  and  law  from 
this  to  the  other  side  of  the  river.  Call  it  "environ- 
ment" with  the  evolutionist — all  right;  for  it  is  just 
the  point  of  the  umoral  argument,"  that  God  is 
through  and  through  the  environment  in  such  a  way 
that  by  our  mental  organization  of  our  experiences  of 
the  environment  we  reach  the  thought  of  God. 

Once  naturalize  God  in  human  thought  in  this 
way,  and  it  becomes  possible  to  naturalize  man  in  the 
kingdom  of  the  Eternal. 

That  is  what  I  meant  by  saying  above  that  the 
newer  way  of  looking  at  theism  "supernaturalizes" 
man.  Here  we  come  to  the  future  life  by  way  of 
theism.  It  lifts  man  right  up  to  eternal  possibili- 
ties— gives  him  value  for  immortality — by  making 
his  very  mental  life,  his  organization  of  experience, 
his  needs  and  struggles,  themselves  the  very  evidence 
and  vehicle  of  the  proof  of  God.  Disprove  God,  as 
I  have  said,  and  man  goes  too;  but  prove  God 
through  man,  reach  belief  in  the  greater  through  the 
less — then  the  less  is  taken  up  into  the  greater. 

Picture  to  yourself  the  planetary  system  whirling 
on  through  space  with  no  life  on  the  worlds — no  man, 
no  conduct,  no  thought,  no  ideals,  nothing  but  globes 
whirling  on  forever.  Now  in  your  own  mind  you 
cannot  help  passing  judgment  on  this  thought.  You 
say  to  yourself:  "Miserable  business,  unworthy  of 
being  made;  if  God  be  outside  of  it  he  must  be 
ashamed  of  it;  he  cannot  be  inside  of  it;  for  it  does 
nothing  but  whirl  to  all  eternity."  So  you  conclude 
that  there  could  be  no  God  anywhere  in  such  a  case. 
The    possible    experience — the    perception    of   mere 


132  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

globes,  simply  whirling — could  not  be  organized  to 
mean  a  spiritual  reality. 

But  now  put  man  back  again  in  the  system — with 
his  life,  his  ideals,  his  beliefs,  his  struggles — and  the 
whirling  becomes  at  once  the  most  insignificant  thing 
that  is  there  ,and  all  because  you  have  reinstated  the 
form  of  natural  existence  which  we  call  moral  and  its 
experiences  which  find  spiritual  organization.  God, 
you  say,  must  be  in  that;  and  if  that  should  utterly 
die  out — that  which  gives  spiritual  meaning  to  the 
whole — this  would  destroy  his  presence  also. 

But  all  this  is  not  an  argument;  it  is  rather  an 
appeal  to  one's  sense  of  the  realities  in  the  world,  and 
to  one's  judgment  of  the  values  which  attach  to 
them. 

Baltimore,   Md. 


Mrs.  Elia  W .  Peattie,  Journalist  and  Author,  in  "The 
Beleaguered  Forest" 

CONFIDENCE  IN  GOD 

A  new  happiness  came  to  sustain  me.  It  was  a 
confidence  in  the  providence  of  God.  ...  At 
first,  when  I  was  alone  up  there  in  the  woods,  I  set 
myself  to  the  savage  task  of  reasoning  God  out  from 
the  fact  of  visible  creation.  The  process  was  childish, 
as  I  knew  very  well.  But  there  was  no  one  there  to 
criticize  me ;  I  was  not  under  obligations  to  tabulate 
my  ideas,  or  ramify  them,  or  set  this  class  of  deduc- 
tions on  one  side  as  belonging  to  the  philosophy  of 
one  man,  and  another  as  coinciding  with  yet  another 
man's  notions.  ...  I  wanted  God !  I  wanted 
Love  which  could  abide!  .  .  .  My  postulate 
was  for  Love.  I  stood  by  that  and  cared  nothing 
for  reason. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        133 

I  did  not  worry  about  the  laws  I  could  not  under- 
stand. That  it  was  possible  to  discover  the  laws  of 
the  stars  but  not  of  the  cyclone  was  no  distress  to  me, 
and  I  was  not  prone  to  make  my  Mephistopheles  out 
of  such  poor  material  as  the  apparent  irresponsibil- 
ity of  some  of  Nature's  forces.  I  think  that  at  first 
I  must  have  felt  only  Nature-worship.  Perhaps  I 
had  a  little  season,  in  my  great  loneliness  and  disap- 
pointment, of  trying  to  think  with  the  Emperor  Mar- 
cus Aurelius.  But  to  be  virtuous  was  not  enough ;  to 
be  just  would  not  suffice;  to  be  of  courage  and  honor 
did  not  warm  me.  I  was  no  man.  I  was  a  woman) 
and  I  required  Love. 

So,  one  sunset,  walking  alone,  it  came  to  me.  It 
was  not  the  trees  that  sent  the  message,  though  they 
were  witnesses  to  it.  It  was  not  the  glory  of  the 
heavens,  for  that  was  evanescent,  while  my  love 
abided  with  me.  It  was  not  the  solitude,  though  that 
had  made  me  conscious  of  my  need  for  it.  It  was  not 
my  sorrow,  though  that  had  made  me  aware  of  the 
solitariness  of  the  human  life;  it  was  not  my  hus- 
band's decline,  though  that  impressed  upon  me  the 
fragility  of  the  mortal  mind  and  its  encasement.  I 
cannot  explain  the  thing.  I  could  hardly  believe  it 
when  it  came.  It  was  just  as  impalpable,  yet  as  con- 
vincing as  the  love  which  springs  up  in  the  heart  of  a 
woman  for  a  man  or  for  a  child.  I,  who  had  never 
felt  such  a  love,  yet  knew  how  it  must  be.  And  I  felt 
that  the  sense  of  love  which  came  to  me  there,  and 
which  was  compacted  of  trust  and  reverence  and  a 
knowledge  past  knowledge,  was  more  to  me  than  the 
love  for  any  man  or  child  could  ever  be. 

What  did  I  know  of  "curvature,  measure  and  pro- 
portion?" What  consistent  theory  of  the  universe 
could  I  evolve?  What  were  optimism  or  pessimism 
to  me  ?    Who  was  I  to  search  for  polytheism  lurking 


i34  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

under  the  cloak  of  Christianity?  I  let  it  go  with 
feminine  incertitude.  I  did  not  have  to  reason.  I 
was  not  compelled  to  be  a  philosopher.  But  no  one 
could  keep  me  from  rejoicing  because  a  white  light 
had  shone  round  me,  and  because  ever  afterward  I 
saw  things  with  eyes  which  held  creation  sacred; 
which  made  me  pitiful  when  I  might  have  been 
angered;  and  taught  me  to  say,  uHoly,  holy,  holy!" 
there  in  the  solitude  before  an  Invisible  Presence. 

It  was  not  necessary  for  me  to  be  wise. 

"Trees,"  I  said,  "you  know  about  it  as  well  as  I. 
You  know  you  are  a  mystery.  You  know  that  all  the 
science  in  the  world  can  not  make  your  like.  If  it  pro- 
duces your  constituents  synthetically,  it  can  not  pro- 
duce you.  It  can  not  make  your  leaves  which  mur- 
mur in  the  wind ;  it  can  not  give  the  perfume  to  your 
greenness.  You  keep  your  secret  inviolate — or  rather 
it  is  kept  from  you.  You  have  the  joy  of  being, 
which  is  enough  for  any  tree — or  woman.  And  if  we 
never  find  out  any  more  than  we  know  now,  your 
leaves  will  not  be  less  green  nor  my  hair  less  golden 
for  that.     Sing,  trees!     I  also  sing." 

Nobody  was  there  to  scoff.  I  sat  beneath  my  King 
of  the  forest  and  piped  my  little  flute.  We  praised 
God  after  our  own  fashion.  The  stars  which  seemed 
meshed  in  the  tops  of  the  trees  also  praised  Him.  The 
wind  of  the  evening  was  loud  in  celebration  of  His 
mystery.  The  spring  of  cold  water  at  my  door  said 
that  He  was  eternal.  The  cry  of  the  birds  assured 
me  that  He  was  delicate,  ingenuous,  a  lover  of  beauty. 
Goodness  was  not  the  only  message.  I  did  not  have 
to  take  the  trouble  to  think  Him  invariably  beneficent. 
There  was  no  theologian  there  to  reprove  me  if  I 
chose  to  think  that  His  power  included  destruction 
and  cruelty  and  the  relentless  wars  of  Nature.  I  did 
not  think  out  the  equity  of  the  strife  of  one  thing 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        135 

against  another  which  I  saw  there  in  the  forest.  I 
did  not  worry  as  to  the  justice  or  the  injustice  of  my 
pathetic  lot.  It  was  enough  for  me  that  the  white 
light  was  about  me,  and  that  peace  was  in  my  heart. 
So  I,  with  my  flute,  worshiped  the  unseen.  We 
made  a  loud  noise  unto  the  Lord — the  wind,  the 
pines,  the  birds,  the  spring  of  cold  water,  and  I,  a 
woman. 

Chicago,  Ills. 


Alfred  H.  Lloyd,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.,  Junior  Professor  of 
Philosophy,  University  of  Michigan,  in  the 
Philosophical  Review. 

EVOLUTION  AND  IMMORTALITY 

Evolution,  if  consistent,  must  view  life  not  as  a 
local  and  temporal  endowment,  but  as  an  affair  of  a 
universe  spatially  and  temporally  indivisible.  So 
viewed,  life  includes  and  unifies  all  parts  of  man's 
nature,  and  frees  immortality  from  dependence  on 
wholly  separate  unworldly  souls.  Individuality,  too, 
is  transfigured,  depending  not  on  separate  existences 
but  on  relationship.  So  evolution  implies  relation- 
ism  and  monism,  while  creationism,  opposed  to  evo- 
lution, implies  pluralism  and  dualism.  For  creation- 
ism immortality  is  absolutely  another  and  after  life; 
for  evolution  "now  is  the  accepted  time,"  this  life  is 
the  immortal  life.  Christianity  is  open  to  monistic, 
evolutional  interpretation. 

But  more  clearly  to  understand  evolution  and 
immortality,  to  find  the  real  meaning  of  the  yonder 
and  the  hereafter  and  the  other,  one  needs  to  examine 
space  and  time  and  matter.  For  modern  thought, 
then,  the  spatial  and  temporal,  instead  of  being 
opposed  to  the  real,  is  intimate  with  the  real.    Space 


136  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

is  not  composite  or  divisible,  for  its  parts  are  in 
and  of  each  other,  and  similarly  of  time  and  the  parts 
of  time;  not  statically,  of  course,  but  dynamically 
the  parts  of  space — or  of  time — are  coextensive.  The 
calculus,  to  which  we  owe  the  dynamic  view,  by  its 
use  of  the  infinitesimal  testifies  to  this  active  coexten- 
sion  of  parts.  Accordingly,  the  local  is  not  the  iso- 
lated but  the  related,  and  is,  therefore,  in  a  genuine 
sense  omnipresent,  and  in  like  manner  the  momen- 
tary is  also  eternal,  and  upon  the  omnipresence  of  the 
local  and  the  eternity  of  the  temporal  rests  the  already 
asserted  intimacy  of  the  spatial  and  temporal  with 
the  real.  Furthermore,  space  and  time  are  intimate 
with  each  other,  for  the  coexistences  of  space  make 
the  temporal  eternal,  while  the  sequences  of  time 
make  the  local  omnipresent.  Witness  the  current  doc- 
trines of  recapitulation  and  environment,  of  memory 
and  foresight,  and  of  motion  and  force.  For  phys- 
ical science  to-day  force  is  the  necessity  of  motion,  and 
motion  is  in  and  of  space,  not  of  something  in  space. 
But  these  two  inseparable  intimacies  make  reality 
organic  and  so  at  once  material  and  spiritual.  In  the 
conception  of  organism,  due  not  less  to  physics  than  to 
psychology,  not  less  to  mathematics  than  to*  biology, 
matter — the  divisible — and  spirit — the  indivisible — 
are  made  one;  as  inseparably  one  as  the  divine  and 
the  human  in  its  most  directly  human  example,  the 
brotherhood  of  man.  In  reality,  moreover,  as 
organic,  we  see  that  which  changes  but  never  dies, 
which  changes  but  at  the  same  time  conserves  every 
part  of  itself.  The  composite  and  divisible  may 
decompose,  and  decomposition  is  death,  but  the 
organic  is  spatially  and  temporally  indivisible.  The 
organic,  then,  is  a  constant  triumph  over  death,  even 
over  the  death  of  individuals,  and  also  over  their 
birth.      Individuality,    real    individuality,    even    as 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        137 

Christianity  seems  to  declare,  is  not  begotten  nor 
does  it  die.  The  conditions  of  space  and  time  only 
"transmute"  it. 

To  practical  life  the  meaning  of  the  foregoing 
is  that  all  those  manifold  relations,  which  give  life 
its  worth  and  make  us  that  live  real,  are,  like  the 
whole  to  which  they  one  and  all  belong,  organically 
indivisible.  We  often  speak  of  the  unity  of  nature 
or  the  unity  of  life,  but  we  may  speak  also  of  the 
unity  of  motherhood  or  the  unity  of  friendship ;  and 
in  such  unities  lie  our  own  immortality  and  that  of 
our  fellows.  Is  it  a  conscious  immortality  ?  It  cannot 
but  be  conscious  for  consciousness,  affair  as  it  must 
be  of  an  indivisible  universe,  is  coextensive  with  life. 
To  argue  that  the  absence  of  memory  in  infants  or 
the  lack  of  communication  with  the  dead  is  evidence 
at  least  of  consciousness  being  subject  to  birth  and 
death,  is  simply  to  show  a  misunderstanding  of 
memory  and  of  communication  in  general.  Mem- 
ory is  never  literally  of  the  past.  The  other  world, 
the  spiritual  world,  really  does  communicate  with 
the  life  that  is,  but  in  and  through  it,  not  from  with- 
out it. 

Finally,  the  evolutional  view  of  immortality  has 
important  consequences  for  the  interpretation  of  his- 
tory, as  well  as  for  the  more  personal  interests  and 
relations  of  mankind.  For  evolution  the  immortality 
of  one's  kin  and  one's  friends,  as  well  as  one's  self, 
is  in  the  very  life  and  consciousness  that  continues 
among  men;  and,  as  regards  the  interpretation  of 
history,  this  can  mean  simply  that  the  life  of  the 
past  and  the  life  of  the  present  must  really  be  treated 
as  one,  not  two.  The  persons  of  the  past  are  not 
fixtures  independent  of  the  current  of  history,  rather, 
they  have  lived  and  moved  with  it,  and  are  still  alive 
and  conscious  in  the  activity  of  to-day,  as  if  our  own 


138  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

past  selves.  We  live  with  them  and  they  in  us. 
Moreover,  apparently  in  this  sense  Christianity  is  now 
thinking  of  the  living  Christ,  and  in  general,  evolu- 
tion does  interpret  the  different  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity, the  conception,  the  resurrection,  the  divinity, 
the  sacrifice,  the  immediacy  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
and  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

Nothing  that  is  worth  having  or  worth  getting, 
nothing  that  is  real  and  abiding,  nothing  that  is 
worthy  of  immortality,  is  not  already  real  in  us,  real 
in  our  life,  real  in  our  experience.  For  evolution  the 
maintenance  of  what  is,  nothing  more,  nothing  less, 
is  our  immortality. 

Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 


Ralph  Waldo  Trine,  A.  M.,  Author,  in  "The  Life 

Books." 
(From  "Character  Building  Thought  Power" ). 

He  is  building  for  eternity  because  when  the  tran- 
sition we  call  death  takes  place,  life,  character,  self- 
mastery,  divine  self-realization, — the  only  things  that 
the  soul  when  stripped  of  everything  else  takes  with 
it, — he  has  in  abundance.  In  life,  or  when  the  time 
of  the  transition  to  another  form  of  life  comes,  he  is 
never  afraid,  never  fearful,  because  he  knows  and 
realizes  that  behind  him,  within  him,  beyond  him, 
is  the  Infinite  wisdom  and  love;  and  in  this  he  is 
eternally  centred,  and  from  it  he  can  never  be  sepa- 
rated. 

(From  "In  Tune  With  the  Infinite"). 

The  fact  of  life  in  whatever  form  means  the  con- 
tinuance of  life,  even  though  the  form  be  changed. 
Life  is  the  one  eternal  principle  of  the  universe  and  so 
always  continues,  even  though  the  form  of  the  agency 
through  which  it  manifests  be  changed.      "In  my 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        139 

Father's  house  are  many  mansions. "  And  surely, 
because  the  individual  has  dropped,  has  gone  out  of 
the  physical  body,  there  is  no  evidence  at  all  that  the 
life  does  not  go  right  on  the  same  as  before,  not  com- 
mencing,— for  there  is  no-  cessation, — but  commenc- 
ing in  the  other  form,  exactly  where  it  has  left  off 
here;  for  all  life  is  a  continuous  evolution,  step  by 
step;    there  one  neither  skips  nor  jumps. 

There  are  in  the  other  form,  then,  mentalities  and 
hence  lives  of  all  grades  and  influences,  the  same  as 
there  are  in  the  physical  form.  If,  then,  the  great 
law  that  like  attracts  like  is  ever  operating,  we  are 
continually  attracting  to  us  from  this  side  of  life 
influences  and  conditions  most  akin  to  those  of  our 
own  thoughts  and  lives.  A  grewsome  thought  that 
we  should  be  so  influenced,  says  one.  By  no  means, 
all  life  is  one;  we  are  all  bound  together  in  the  one 
common  and  universal  life,  and  especially  not  when 
we  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  we  have  it 
entirely  in  our  own  hands  to  determine  the  order  of 
thought  we  entertain,  and  consequently  the  order  of 
influences  we  attract,  and  are  not  mere  willowy  crea- 
tures of  circumstance,  unless  indeed  we  choose  to  be. 

In  our  mental  lives  we  can  either  keep  hold  of  the 
rudder  and  so  determine  exactly  what  course  we 
take,  what  points  we  touch,  or  we  can  fail  to  do  this, 
and  failing,  we  drift,  and  are  blown  hither  and  thither 
by  every  passing  breeze.  And  so,  on  the  contrary, 
welcome  should  be  the  thought,  for  thus  we  may 
draw  to-  us  the  influence  and  the  aid  of  the  greatest, 
the  noblest,  and  the  best  who  have  lived  on  the  earth, 
whatever  the  time,  wherever  the  place. 

We  cannot  rationally  believe  other  than  that  those 
who  have  labored  in  love  and  with  uplifting  power 
here  are  still  laboring  in  the  same  way,  and  in  all 
probability  with  more  earnest  zeal,   and  with  still 


i4o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

greater  power.  While  riding  with  a  friend  a  few 
days  ago,  we  were  speaking  of  the  great  interest  peo- 
ple are  everywhere  taking  in  the  more  vital  things  of 
life,  the  eagerness  with  which  they  are  reaching  out 
for  a  knowledge  of  the  interior  forces,  their  ever- 
increasing  desire  to  know  themselves  and  to  know 
their  true  relations  with  the  Infinite.  And  in  speak- 
ing of  the  great  spiritual  awakening  that  is  so  rapidly 
coming  all  over  the  world,  the  beginnings  of  which 
we  are  so  clearly  seeing  during  the  closing  years  of 
this,  and  whose  ever-increasing  proportions  we  are  to 
witness  during  the  early  years  of  the  coming  century, 
I  said,  "How  beautiful  if  Emerson,  the  illumined 
one  so  far  in  advance  of  his  time,  who  labored  so 
faithfully  and  so  fearlessly  to  bring  about  these  very 
conditions,  how  beautiful  if  he  were  with  us  to-day 
to-  witness  it  all!  how  he  would  rejoice  I" 

"How  do  we  know,"  was  the  reply,  "that  he  is  not 
witnessing  it  all?  and  more,  that  he  is  not  having  a 
hand  in  it  all, — a  hand  even  greater,  perhaps,  than 
when  we  saw  him  here?" 

The  things  that  cause  sorrow,  and  pain,  and 
bereavement  will  not  be  able  to  take  the  hold  of 
us  they  now  take,  for  true  wisdom  will  enable  us  to 
see  the  proper  place  and  know  the  right  relations  of 
all  things.  The  loss  of  friends  by  the  transition  we 
call  death  will  not  cause  sorrow  to  the  soul  that  has 
come  into  this  higher  realization,  for  he  knows  that 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  death,  for  each  one  is  not 
only  a  partaker,  but  an  eternal  partaker,  of  this  Infi- 
nite Life.  He  knows  that  the  mere  falling  away  of 
the  physical  body  by  no  means  affects  the  real  soul 
life.  With  a  tranquil  spirit  born  of  a  higher  faith 
he  can  realize  for  himself,  and  to  those  less  strong 
he  can  say — 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        141 

"Loving  friends!  be  wise  and  dry 
Straightway  every  weeping  eye; 
What  you  left  upon  the  bier 
Is  not  worth  a  single  tear; 
'Tis  a  simple  sea-shell,  one 
Out  of  which  the  pearl  has  gone. 
The  shell  was  nothing,  leave  it  there; 
The  pearl — the  soul — was  all,  is  here." 

And  so  far  as  the  element  of  separation  is  concerned, 
he  realizes  that  to  spirit  there  are  no  bounds,  and 
that  spiritual  communion,  whether  between  two  per- 
sons in  the  body,  or  two  persons,  one  in  the  body 
and  one  out  of  the  body,  is  within  the  reach  of  all. 
In  the  degree  that  the  higher  spiritual  life  is  realized 
can  there  be  this  higher  spiritual  communion. 

The  things  that  we  open  ourselves  to  always  come 
to  us.  People  in  the  olden  times  expected  to  see 
angels  and  they  saw  them ;  but  there  is  no  more  rea- 
son why  they  should  have  seen  them  than  that  we 
should  see  them  now;  no  more  reason  why  they 
should  come  and  dwell  with  them  than  that  they 
should  come  and  dwell  with  us,  for  the  great  laws 
governing  all  things  are  the  same  to-day  as  they 
were  then.  If  angels  come  not  to  minister  unto  us  it 
is  because  we  do  not  invite  them,  it  is  because  we 
keep  the  door  closed  through  which  they  otherwise 
might  enter. 

The  sum  and  substance  of  the  thought  presented 
in  these  pages  is  that  the  great  central  fact  in  human 
life  is  the  coming  into  a  conscious,  vital  realization 
of  our  oneness  with  the  Infinite  Life,  and  the  open- 
ing of  ourselves  fully  to  this  divine  inflow.  I  and 
the  Father  are  one,  said  the  Master.  In  this  we  see 
how  he  recognized  his  oneness  with  the  Father's  life. 
Again  he  said,  the  words  that  I  speak  unto  you  I 


1 42  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

speak  not  of  myself :  but  the  Father  that  dwelleth  in 
me,  He  doeth  the  works.  In  this  we  see  how  clearly 
he  recognized  the  fact  that  he  of  himself  could  do 
nothing,  only  as  he  worked  in  conjunction  with  the 
Father.  Again,  My  Father  works  and  I  work.  In 
other  words,  my  Father  sends  the  power.  I  open 
myself  to  it,  and  work  in  conjunction  with  it.  Again 
he  said,  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto 
you.  And  he  left  us  not  in  the  dark  as  to  exactly 
what  he  meant  by  this,  for  again  he  said,  Say  not  Lo 
here  nor  lo-  there,  know  ye  not  that  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  within  you  ?  According  to  his  teacher, 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven  are 
one  and  the  same.  If,  then,  his  teaching  is  that  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  us,  do  we  not  clearly 
see  that,  putting  it  in  other  words,  his  injunction  is 
nothing  more  nor  less  than,  Come  ye  into  a  conscious 
realization  of  your  oneness  with  the  Father's  life.  As 
you  realize  this  oneness  you  find  the  kingdom,  and 
when  you  find  this,  all  things  else  shall  follow. 
Croton  Landing,  N.  Y. 


Miss  Lilian  Whiting,  Author,  in  "After  Her  Death/' 
FROM  INMOST  DREAMLAND 

.  That  science  must  prove  immortality  is 
the  message  of  to-day.  For  there  is  a  distinct  and 
recognizable  approach  of  the  two  worlds  to  each 
other, — the  seen  and  the  unseen.  Each  is  flashing 
its  signals,  and  the  failure  or  the  delay  in  a  more 
universal  recognition  of  these  on  our  part  is  simply 
in  not  realizing  that  this  communion  must  be  attained 
through  our  own  higher  spiritual  life,  and  not 
demanded  or  expected  as  mere  phenomena.       We 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        143 

have  demanded  that  the  unseen  shall  manifest  them- 
selves to  us, — visibly,  audibly,  to  our  material  senses. 
But  while  there  is  undoubtedly  much  of  this  phe- 
nomena, it  is,  at  best,  only  begging  the  question.  The 
only  true,  permanent  and  satisfactory  way  to  live  in 
companionship  and  in  communion  with  those  who 
have  passed  through  the  experience  of  death  is  to  live 
in  the  spirit, — to  live,  now  and  here,  every  day  and 
every  hour,  the  spiritual  life.  And  what  is  this  life? 
It  is  love,  joy,  peace.  It  is  infinite  and  unfailing  good 
will;  it  is  abounding  love;  it  is  meekness,  and 
patience,  and  belief;  it  is  energy  in  all  endeavor;  it 
is  in  the  constant  desire  and  effort  to  so  live  that,  in 
the  words  of  Phillips  Brooks,  "if  every  man  lived  as 
you  do,  this  earth  would  be  heaven. "  The  problem 
of  communion  with  those  who  have  passed  into  the 
unseen  lies  with  us  rather  than  with  them;  it  lies  in 
our  own  purification  and  exaltation  of  life;  for  this 
alone  offers  the  atmosphere — the  aura — into  which 
the  higher  spirits  can  enter. 

The  law  of  evolution  is  not  limited  to  action  on  the 
physical  world  alone.  It  does  not  cease  to  operate 
with  the  attainment  of  physical  perfection.  For  man 
is  primarily  a  spiritual  being,  and  only  incidentally 
and  transiently  an  inhabitant  of  the  physical  world. 
That  is  a  mere  phase,  rudimental  and  experimental 
in  its  nature.  His  physical  body  is  an  instrument,  by 
means  of  which,  for  a  time,  he  is  enabled  to  relate 
himself  to  the  physical  world.  Here  he  does  not  so 
much  live  as  begin  to  learn  how  to  live. 

The  tragedy  of  life  would  be  in  its  lost  opportuni- 
ties, were  it  not  that  a  lost  opportunity,  when  fully 
recognized  too  late  for  its  pursuance  here,  is  there 
held  to  await  him  who  shall  be  worthy  of  it  on  the 
plane  of  life  just  beyond.  The  friendships  that  seem 
to  have  missed  their  possible  affection  here,  to  have 


i44  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

failed  in  what  each  at  heart  desired  to  realize,  await 
another  experience  to  which  each  shall  come  with 
finer  preparation.  Whether  one  shall  again  take  up 
his  intercourse  with  the  friend  who  has  passed  before 
him  into  the  unseen,  depends  on  the  daily  life  he  leads 
now  and  here.  The  meeting  beyond  is  in  no  sense  a 
matter  of  arbitrary  and  mysterious  destiny.  It 
depends  solely  upon  the  sustaining  and  the  growth 
of  mutual  understanding  between  the  two  lives, — the 
one  in  the  seen,  the  other  in  the  unseen.  The  future 
meeting  is  a  matter  of  condition,  of  sympathy. 

Man  being  primarily  a  spiritual  being,  his 
own  real  progress  or  real  success  in  life  is  as  he  so 
realizes  himself.  The  life  after  death  is  fast  coming 
to  be  no  longer  to  us  a  speculation  or  a  superstition, 
but  a  very  real  fact  with  which  to  deal, — a  phase  of 
the  near  future  for  which  to  daily  prepare.  And  the 
only  true  preparation  for  the  life  after  death  is  to 
live  nobly  before  death. 

There  seems  to  me  no  doubt  that  her*  prophetic 
words  to  the  effect  that  science  will  yet  prove  immor- 
tality are  almost  on  the  eve  of  fulfillment.  Psychic 
science  is  conquering  new  territory;  discerning  more 
and  more  of  truth  constantly.  It  is  discovering  that 
the  life  just  beyond  this  is  not  so  great  a  change  from 
this  as  we  have  fancied ;  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  a  "disembodied"  spirit.  Death  is  simply  the  sep- 
aration of  the  finer  ethereal  body  from  the  outer  and 
coarse  one.  The  new  form  is  like  the  old,  save  that 
it  is  subtle,  magnetic,  and  it  is  far  more  the  direct 
reflection  of  the  spiritual  nature.  The  unseen  world 
in  which  it  now  begins  another  life  is  as  real, — far 
more  real,  indeed, — than  this,  and  is  formed  of  far 
more  potent  forces.     This  world  exists  all  about  us 


*Kate  Field. 


SMALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        145 

in  space.  To  become  cognizant  of  it  depends  on  con- 
dition alone.  To  the  blind  the  world  we  live  in  is 
unseen,  because  the  blind  man  has  not  the  organ 
that  corresponds  with  his  environment;  when  the 
spiritual  world  about  us  is  undiscovered,  it  is  because 
we  have  not  yet  developed  those  latent  faculties  which 
would  enable  us  to  perceive  it.     The  spiritual  life  is 

"built  of  furtherance  and  pursuing; 
Not  of  spent  deeds,  but  of  doing." 

As  we  live  the  life  of  the  spirit  we  are  companioned 
by  the  friends  in  thte  unseen,  in  the  simple  and  natural 
way  that  attends  all  true  relations  of  mutual  sym- 
pathy. 

All  this  is  but  preliminary  to  the  one  salient  and 
supreme  truth  that  may  easily  be  deduced  from  it, — 
the  unmistakable  assurance  of  the  persistence  of 
identity  in  the  life  of  the  spirit,  in  the  body  and  out  of 
the  body.  All  our  social  life  in  this  world  is  spiritual 
life;  all  our  loves  and  friendships  are  of  the  spirit, 
— certainly  not  of  the  body.  The  nature  of  the  spir- 
itual being  which  temporarily  inhabits  a  physical 
body  in  the  physical  world,  is  in  no  wise  altered  by 
the  event  of  death,  which  liberates  it  from  this  phys- 
ical case.  When  liberated,  it  enters  on  life  in  the 
ethereal  world,  which  is  the  corresponding  counter- 

Eart  of  life  in  this  world.  If  we  could  clearly  compre- 
end  what  life  would  be  now  with  the  entire  elimina- 
tion of  all  physical  demands,  we  should  approach 
the  comprehension  of  what  the  life  on  the  next  highfer 
plane  must  be.  Take  away  all  that  ministers  to  the 
physical  needs;  imagine  beginning  the  day  without 
care  for  the  body,  or  for  a  thousand  purely  transient 
and  material  interests  that  beset  us  here,  and  that 
one  is  thus  left  free  for  the  higher  thought,   for 


i46  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

purely  mental  and  spiritual  occupations.  Imagine 
communication  carried  on,  not  by  letters  and  tele- 
grams, but  by  the  instant  flight  of  thought;  imagine 
travelling  to  be  a  matter  of  will  and  instant  per- 
formance rather  than  an  affair  demanding  prepara- 
tion in  detail,  where  all  the  clumsy  processes  of  mate- 
rial life  are  eliminated,  and  where  the  law  of  thought, 
controlling  vibration,  is  understood  and  acted  upon, 
and  to  some  degree  can  we  thus  achieve  some  com- 
prehension of  the  nature  of  life  in  the  ethereal  world. 
The  one  point  of  supreme  importance,  however,  in 
the  establishment  of  the  truth  of  intercommunica- 
tion between  the  Seen  and  the  Unseen  is  that  it  enters 
into  our  present  daily  life,  uplifting  and  enlighten- 
ing it.  The  spiritual  being,  temporarily  inhabiting 
his  physical  body,  realizes  himself  as  an  immortal 
being  whose  responsibility  it  is  to  fill  the  days  with 
significant  experiences.  The  choice  rests  with  one's 
self  entirely.  It  may  seem  a  thing  largely  and  almost 
inevitably  dependent  on  circumstances,  but  it  is  not; 
for  thought  is  greater  than  circumstance  or  event, 
and  dominates  them.  Significance  or  insignificance 
in  the  quality  of  life  is,  like  good  or  evil,  a  matter  of 
personal  choice  with  the  individual.  It  is  possible  to 
eliminate  the  inane  hours  and  make  every  day  tell 
in  its  purposes  of  fulfillment.  Nor  is  this  possibility 
restricted  to  the  city  dweller,  in  the  heart  of  all  that 
which  is  finest  in  art,  literature  and  ethics.  It  is  a 
matter  of  individual  choice  rather  than  that  of  indi- 
vidual opportunity.  .  .  .  There  can  be  a  reali- 
zation of  that  finer  world  interpenetrating  that  in 
which  we  live.  Its  ether  is  in  the  atmosphere  we 
breathe.  It  is  the  world  of  reality,  of  force,  of  vivid- 
ness, of  power.  Now  it  is  not  only  they  who  have 
passed  on  beyond  the  things  of  sense  who  live  in  this 
world,  but  it  is  one  in  which  the  higher  self,  the 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        147 

ethereal  organism,  may  live,  even  before  it  leaves 
the  body.  Everything  in  this  natural  world  has  its 
spiritual  or  ethereal  counterpart.  Nature  perpetu- 
ates herself  in  more  delicate  yet  more  potent  forms. 
The  ethereal  body  which  man  assumes  at  death  is  a 
counterpart  of  the  body  here;  it  has  the  same  form, 
only  that  it  is  etherealized.  It  is  not  less,  but  more 
real.  It  has  to  do  with  a  higher  range  of  correspon- 
dence. It  is  an  inhabitant  of  a  more  important  plane 
of  life.  Science  has  demonstrated  the  existence  of  the 
finer  atmospheric  ether  in  which  this  finer  body  lives 
and  moves.  There  is  a  world  touching  and  mingling 
with  ours  in  which  lie  the  springs  of  power.  Most 
people  live,  sometimes,  and  fragmentarily,  in  this 
world.  They  recognize  moments,  hours,  days,  when 
event  and  sequence  become  rhythmic,  when  the  vision 
shines  clear  and  the  voice  is  heard.  Now  if  it  be  pos- 
sible to  so  live  one  day  in  the  year,  it  is  possible  to  so 
live  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  in  a  year.  If 
it  be  possible  for  one  hour  a  day,  it  is  possible  for 
twenty-four  hours.  This  intensity  and  exaltation  con- 
stantly records  its  impress  on  the  air, — that  is,  in  this 
finer  ethereal  world.  The  deed  is  the  outward  and 
momentary  expression;  the  motive  and  purpose  are 
the  inner  and  permanent  elements  that  build  up  life 
on  the  invisible  side.  One  who  holds  his  purpose 
true  to  this  higher  end  of  life  is  creating  new  condi- 
tions that  will  ultimately  transform  all  circumstances. 
There  is  no  limit  to  that  which  he  may  accomplish. 
He  holds  the  key  to  the  unlimited  stores  of  energy. 


148  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Mr.  Benjamin  F.  Underwood,  Editor,  Author  and 
Lecturer,  in  "A  Lay  Funeral  Sermon" 

THE  PERMANENT  IS  THE  INVISIBLE 

.  Our  brother  has  passed  on  into  the  invis- 
ible to  make  room  for  another  guest.  We  no  longer 
see  him. 

But  because  he  has  ceased  to  be  part  of  the  visible 
order,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  has  ceased  to  exist. 
It  is  a  fact  of  science,  not  less  than  of  philosophy,  that 
the  permanent  is  the  invisible,  the  intangible,  the 
uncognizable.  Ultimate  being  is  unrepresentable  and 
unpicturable  in  thought  and  undescribable  by  any 
terms  which  apply  to  the  relative  world;  but  it  is 
that  ultimate  power  that  lies  behind,  so  to  speak,  of 
all  objects  of  sense,  that  of  which  phenomena  are  but 
the  appearances  to  the  mind  of  man,  that  which  is  the 
basis  of  all  activity,  of  the  inorganic  and  organic 
world  alike.  There  is  a  universe  of  which  the  phys- 
ical universe  is  only  such  a  symbolical  representation 
as  is  possible  to  the  finite  and  sense-imprisoned  mind 
of  man,  with  its  organically  imposed  limitations.  It 
is  in  ourselves  that  the  universe  is  revealed,  that  the 
world  of  sense,  with  all  its  wealth  of  hue  and  sound 
and  odor  exists.  With  more  senses  than  we  possess 
or  with  senses  more  acute  and  capable  of  more  com- 
prehensive cognitions,  glories  in  the  natural  world 
would  doubtless  be  witnessed  which  have  never 
dawned  upon  the  mind  of  any  human  being  in  the 
flesh.  It  would  seem  that  our  senses,  instead  of 
enabling  us  to  know  all  things  that  exist,  as  some 
people  superficially  suppose,  serve  to  restrict  us  from 
knowing  all  but  a  comparatively  few  things. 

With  increase  of  knowledge  the  mind  comes  to  see 
that  neither  sensibility  nor  conceivability  is  the  test  of 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        149 

possibility,  that  there  are  objects  beyond  the  range, 
beyond  all  possible  extension  of  the  senses,  and  that 
actualities  exist  which  transcend  all  present  knowl- 
edge, and  of  which  the  mind  may  be  able  to  form  no 
representative  idea.  It  is  by  exercise  of  the  Scientific 
imagination"  that  discoveries  are  made  and  the 
boundaries  of  the  known  extended.  The  man  of 
science  tests  his  imagination  and  inferences  by  veri- 
fication. But  lying  beyond  the  proven  is  ever  the 
great,  unexplored  region  to  which  the  mind  has  had 
no  access;  and  in  regard  to  the  possibilities  and  prob- 
abilities of  that  unknown  region,  men  always  have 
imagined,  believed  and  hoped. 

We  have  caught  only  a  few  glimpses  of  the  uni- 
verse and  they  are  such  only  as  sense  limitations  have 
permitted  us  to  obtain.  This  view  is  altogether  upon 
a  priori  grounds,  in  favor  of  a  larger  conception  of 
life  than  that  which  is  based  upon  the  conception  that 
life  is  the  result  of  mere  collocation  of  matter.  The 
mind  must  have  a  deeper  basis  than  that  which  is 
afforded  by  the  fleeting  phenomena  of  material  com- 
binations; and  as  sunset  and  night  bring  to  view  a 
multitude  of  stars,  the  blazing  suns  of  other  systems 
than  our  own,  so  the  end  of  earthly  life  and  the  dark- 
ness of  death  may  reveal  glories  quite  as  august  which 
belong  to  another  order  and  stage  of  being. 

This  life  in  itself  gives  no  explanation  of  our  be- 
ing, unless  indeed  it  be  conceived  as  philosophies  and 
religions  teach,  and  as  the  millions  believe,  that  death 
is  a  door  to-  a  larger  life.  The  conviction  of  future 
life  persists  through  centuries  with  a  vigor  which  no 
superstition  can  destroy,  giving  comfort  and  consola- 
tion to  all  who  mourn  for  their  loved  ones  removed 
by  death1. 

One  night  in  October,  1861,  under  a  starlit  sky  on 
the  Potomac,  a  group  of  soldiers  belonging  to  the 


i5o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Fifteenth  Massachusetts  Volunteers  was  discussing 
this  old  problem — the  immortality  of  the  soul.  An 
opinion  expressed  by  one  and  concurred  in  by  several 
was  that  with  no  hope  of  anything  beyond  death,  a 
man  is  a  fool  to  imperil  his  life  in  battle  for  his  coun- 
try or  for  a  principle.  Others,  full  of  youthful  en- 
thusiasm and  patriotic  ardor,  claimed  that  the  nation 
needed  the  services  of  her  sons  and  that  every  true 
American  should  feel  that  it  is  sweet  and  glorious  to 
suffer,  and  if  needs  be,  to  die  for  his  country,  with  no 
hope  of  reward  beyond  the  consciousness  of  having 
faithfully  done  his  duty. 

A  few  days  thereafter  occurred  the  fierce  and 
bloody  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  in  which  some  of  those 
who  took  part  in  this  conversation  were  slain.  As  I 
(who  was  wounded  in  this  engagement,  and  the  morn- 
ing after  the  battle  was  captured  by  the  Confeder- 
ates) saw  the  dead  lying  on  the  field  of  carnage  and 
heard  the  groans  of  the  dying,  an  appalling  spec- 
tacle, I  recalled  the  discussion  of  a  few  nights  before, 
and  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  if  for  the  poor 
fellows  who,  in  the  flower  of  youth,  when  life  was  all 
bright  before  them,  had  fallen  fighting  for  flag  and 
country,  which  they  were  never  to  see  again,  there  was 
nothing  but  annihilation,  then,  indeed,  justice  and 
right  do  not  exist  in  the  Power  that  rules  the  world. 
In  this  thought  emotion  was  probably  stronger  than 
reason.  Yet,  after  all  these  many  years  from  the  date 
of  that  tragic  event,  I  am  unable  to  reconcile  with 
justice  the  death  of  those  comrades  who  perished  in 
the  spring  time  of  life,  if  there  is  no  unseen  world 
supplementary  to  this  into  which  their  death  was  a 
birth  and  in  which  they  did  and  do  perform  parts 
in  the  great  drama  of  being. 

If  the  millions  who,  for  principle,  for  country  and 
for   race  have  suffered  imprisonment,   torture   and 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        151 

ignominious  death,  if  they  survive  not  beyond,  there 
seems  to  be  something  lacking  which  is  needed  to  sat- 
isfy the  moral  nature  and  the  heart  of  man.  We 
admire  the  self-sacrifice  which  gives  up  all  and  expects 
nothing  when  truth  is  to  be  advanced  and  humanity  is 
to  be  benefited ;  but  the  thought  that  the  most  exalted 
moral  goodness,  the  unselfish  love,  may  perish  with 
the  effort  it  makes  to-  help  and  to  save  those  who  may 
not  even  appreciate  the  cost  of  the  blessings  which  they, 
through  the  suffering  and  death  of  others,  receive, 
is,  to  say  the  least,  depressing.  It  is  more  in  conson- 
ance with  our  feelings  and  with  our  moral  sentiments 
to  believe  that  whatever  is  worth  preserving  persists 
in  an  unseen  order,  or  in  an  unapprehended  dimen- 
sion of  being,  in  which  will  be  solved  the  problems 
of  this  life  of  lights  and  shadows,,  of  joys  and  sor- 
rows. In  justification  of  the  hope  may  we  not  point 
to  the  progressive  development  of  life  on  this  earth 
which  has  been  going  on  amidst  struggle  and  suffer- 
ing for  so  many  ages  ?  Has  humanity  appeared  after 
this  unimaginable  duration,  after  these  millions  of 
years  of  preparation,  as  the  final  product  of  evolution, 
only  to  be  extinguished  forever?  Is  the  development 
of  the  human  race  from  savagery  to  civilization,  is 
the  ascent  of  man  to  the  mountain  peaks  of  intel- 
lectual and  moral  greatness,  are  all  the  conquests  over 
wrong,  all  the  victories  of  virtue  achieved  through 
sacrifice  and  undeviating  devotion  to  principle,  all  the 
love  and  goodness  which  have  brightened  and  bet- 
tered the  world,  and  all  the  hopes  and  aspirations 
which  have  appealed  to  human  hearts  and  sustained 
man  in  the  midst  of  his  master  and  in  the  face  of 
death — are  these  to  be  followed  by  the  complete 
extinction  of  all  light  on  this  planet  and  by  the  return 
of  the  planet  itself  to  fire-mist?  Will  there  remain 
no  enduring  results  of  the  mental  and  moral  condition 


152  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

which  it  has  taken  so  many  ages  to  produce?  Is  not 
the  fact  that  all  which  has  been  and  all  which  will 
have  been  achieved  on  the  earth  must  ultimately  be 
blotted  out,  so  far  as  it  can  be  by  physical  dissolutions 
— is  not  this  fact  an  indication  that  the  results  of 
this  long  process  of  evolution  and  ascension — intel- 
lect, character,  virtue — will  continue  to  exist  unim- 
paired by  death,  even  when  our  planet  has  run  its 
course  and  has  been  resolved  back  to  the  worldstuff 
from  which  it  was  developed? 

Many — most  people,  perhaps — have  no<  difficulty 
in  believing  in  immortality,  which  they  assume  to  be 
true  without  much  interest  in  arguments  for  or 
against  the  doctrine.  Many  feel  an  abiding  convic- 
tion in  its  truth.  During  a  walk  and  conversation 
which  I  had  with  the  poet,  Fitz-Greene  Halleck, 
more  than  forty  years  ago  at  Guilford,  Conn.,  he 
said:  "There  is  no  proof  of  such  a  life,  and  we 
need  none,"  or  words  to  this  effect.  His  contention 
was,  as  Cicero  says,  uthat  there  is,  I  know  not  how, 
in  the  minds  of  men  a  certain  presage,  as  it  were,  of 
a  future  existence. "  Thomas  Paine,  commonly 
regarded  as  the  arch  heretic,  declared  that  the  "belief 
in  a  future  state  is  a  rational  belief  founded  upon 
facts  visible  in  the  creation."  .  .  .  Mankind 
will  never  be  without  belief  in  immortality.  Man's 
love  of  life,  his  moral  ideals,  the  injustice  and  ine- 
quality of  social  conditions,  the  wrongs  unrighted 
and  the  virtues  unrewarded  here,  together  with  the 
impossibility  of  disproving  the  reality  of  a  future  life 
are,  without  other  reasons  perhaps,  sufficient  to  insure 
general  adherence  to  the  belief  when  the  special 
dogmas  and  traditions  associated  with  it  in  the  pop- 
ular mind  shall  have  been  outgrown. 

Quincy,  Ills. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        153 

William  James,  M.  D.,  LL.D.,  Ph.  and  Lift.  D., 
Professor  of  Philosophy,  Harvard  University, 
in  his  Ingersoll  lecture,  "Human  Immortality; 
Two  Supposed  Objections  to  the  Doctrine/9 
.  The  first  of  these  difficulties  is  relative  to 
the  absolute  dependence  of  our  spiritual  life,  as  we 
know  it  here,  upon  the  brain.  One  hears  not  only 
physiologists,  but  numbers  of  laymen,  who'  read  the 
popular  science  books  and  magazines,  saying  all 
about  us,  How  can  we  believe  in  life  hereafter  when 
Science  has  once  for  all  attained  to  proving,  beyond 
possibility  to  escape,  that  our  inner  life  is  a  function 
of  that  famous  material,  the  so-called  ugray  matter" 
of  our  cerebral  convolutions?  How  can  the  function 
possibly  persist  after  its  organ  has  undergone  decay? 
For  the  purposes  of  my  argument,  I  beg 
you  to  agree  with  me  to-day  in  subscribing  to>  the 
great  psycho-physiological  formula :  Thought  is  a 
function  of  the  brain.  The  question  is,  then,  Does 
this  doctrine  logically  compel  us  to  disbelieve  in 
immortality?  Ought  it  to  force  every  truly  consistent 
thinker  to  sacrifice  his  hopes  of  an  hereafter  to  what 
he  takes  to  be  his  duty  of  accepting  all  the  conse1- 
quences  of  a  scientific  truth?  .  .  .  The  next 
thing  in  order  for  me  is  to  try  to  make  plain  to  you 
why  I  believe  that  it  has  in  strict  logic  no  deterrent 
power.  I  must  show  you  that  the  fatal  consequence 
is  not  coercive,  as  is  commonly  imagined;  and  that 
even  though  our  soul's  life  (as  here  below  it  is 
revealed  to  us)  may  be  in  literal  strictness  the  func- 
tion of  a  brain  that  perishes,  yet  it  is  not  at  all  impos- 
sible, but  on  the  contrary  quite  possible,  that  the  life 
may  still  continue  when  the  brain  itself  is  dead. 

The  supposed  impossibility  of  its  continuing  comes 
from  too  superficial  a  look  at  the  admitted  fact  of 
functional  dependence.  The  moment  we  inquire  more 


i54  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

closely  into  the  notion  of  functional  dependence,  and 
ask  ourselves,  for  example,  how  many  kinds  of  func- 
tional dependence  there  may  be,  we  immediately  per- 
ceive that  there  is  one  kind  at  least  that  does  not 
exclude  a  life  hereafter  at  all.  The  fatal  conclusion 
of  the  physiologist  flows  from  his  assuming  offhand 
another  kind  of  functional  dependence  and  treating 
it  as  the  only  imaginable  kind. 

When  the  physiologist  who  thinks  that  his  science 
cuts  off  all  hope  of  immortality  pronounces  the 
phrase:,  "Thought  is  a  function  of  the  brain,"  he 
thinks  of  the  matter  just  as  he  thinks  when  he  says, 
"Steam  is  a  function  of  the  tea-kettle."  "Light  is  a 
function  of  the  electric  current."  Material  objects 
have  the  function  of  inwardly  creating  or  engender- 
ing their  effects,  and  their  function  must  be  called 
productive  function.  Just  so,  he  thinks,  it  must  be 
with  the  brain.  .  .  .  But  in  the  world  of  phys- 
ical nature  productive  function  of  this  sort  is  not  the 
only  kind  of  function  with  which  we  are  familiar. 
We  have  also  releasing  or  permissive  function;  and 
we  have  transmissive  function. 

My  thesis  now  is  this :  that  when  we  think  of  the 
law  that  thought  is  a  function  of  the  brain,  we  are 
not  required  to  think  of  productive  function  only; 
we  are  entitled  also  to  consider  permissive  or  trans- 
missive function.  And  this  the  ordinary  psycho- 
physiologist  leaves  out  of  his  account. 

Suppose,  for  example,  that  the  whole  universe  of 
material  things — the  furniture  of  earth  and  choir  of 
heaven — should  turn  out  to>  be  a  mere  surface-veil 
of  phenomena,  hiding  and  keeping  back  the  world  of 
genuine  realities.  Such  a  supposition  is  foreign  neither 
to  common  sense  nor  to  philosophy.  Common  sense 
believes  in  realities  behind  the  veil  even  too  super- 
stitiously;    and    idealistic    philosophy   declares   the 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        155 

whole  world  of  natural  experience,  as  we  get  it,  to  be 
but  a  time-mask,  shattering  or  refracting  the  one 
infinite  Thought  which  is  the  sole  reality  into  those 
millions  of  finite  streams  of  consciousness  known  to 
us  as  our  private  selves.  Suppose,  now,  that  this  were 
really  so,  and  suppose,  moreover,  that  the  dome, 
opaque  enough  at  all  times  to  the  full  supersolar 
blaze,  could  at  certain  times  and  places  grow  less  so, 
and  let  certain  beams  pierce  through  into  this 
sublunary  world.  These  beams  would  be  so  many 
finite  rays,  so  to  speak,  of  consciousness,  and  they 
would  vary  in  quantity  and  quality  as  the  opacity 
varied  in  degree.  Only  at  particular  times  and  places 
would  it  seem  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  veil  of 
nature  can  grow  thin  and  rupturable  enough  for 
such  effects  to  occur.  But  in  those  places  gleams, 
however  finite  and  unsatisfying,  of  the  absolute  life 
of  the  universe,  are  from  time  to  time  vouchsafed. 
Glows  of  feeling,  glimpses  of  insight,  and  streams 
of  knowledge  and  perception  float  into  our  finite 
world. 

Admit,  now,  that  our  brains  are  such  thin  and  half- 
transparent  places  in  the  veil.  What  will  happen? 
Why,  as  the  white  radiance  comes  through  the  dome, 
with  all  sorts  of  staining  and  distortion  imprinted 
on  it  by  the  glass,  even  so  the  genuine  matter  of  real- 
ity, the  life  of  souls  as  it  is  in  its  fullness,  will  break 
through  our  several  brains  into  this  world  in  all  sorts 
of  restricted  forms,  and  with  all  the  imperfections 
and  queerness  that  characterize  our  finite  individu- 
alities here  below.  According  to  the  state  in  which 
the  brain  finds  itself,  the  barrier  of  its  obstructive- 
ness  may  also  be  supposed  to  rise  or  fall.  It  sinks 
so  low,  when  the  brain  is  in  full  activity,  that  a  com- 
parative flood  of  spiritual  energy  pours  over.  At 
other  times,  only  such  occasional  waves  of  thought  as 


156  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

heavy  sleep  permits  get  by.  And  when  finally  a  brain 
stops  acting  altogether,  or  decays,  that  special  stream 
of  consciousness  which  it  subserved  will  vanish 
entirely  from  this  natural  world.  But  the  sphere  of 
being  that  supplied  the  consciousness  would  still  be 
intact ;  and  in  that  more  real  world  with  which,  even 
whilst  here,  it  was  continuous,  the  consciousness 
might,  in  ways  unknown  to  us,  continue  still.  You 
see  that  our  soul's  life,  as  we  here  know  it,  would 
none  the  less  in  literal  strictness  be  the  function  of 
the  brain.  The  brain  would  be  the  independent  vari- 
able, the  mind  would  vary  dependently  on  it.  But 
such  dependence  on  the  brain  for  this  natural  life 
would  in  no  wise  make  immortal  life  impossible, — 
it  might  be  quite  compatible  with  supernatural  life 
behind  the  veil  hereafter.     ...      * 

My  second  point  is  relative  to  the  incredible  and 
intolerable  number  of  beings  which,  with  our  modern 
imagination,  we  must  believe  to  be  immortal,  if  im- 
mortality be  true.  .  .  .  We  give  up  our  own 
immortality  sooner  than  believe  that  all  the  hosts  of 
Hottentots  and  Australians  that  have  been,  and  shall 
ever  be,  should  share  it  with  us.  It  is  the 

most  obvious  fallacy  in  the  world,  and  the  only  won- 
der is  that  all  the  world  should  not  see  through  it. 
It  is  the  result  of  nothing  but  an  invincible  blindness 


*Prof.  James,  after  making  his  abstract  argument,  added 
an  elucidation  of  the  more  concrete  conditions  of  the  case. 
The  reader  is  referred  to  the  book,  "Human  Immortality," 
for  the  interesting  arguments  and  hypotheses  which  the  neces- 
sity for  brevity  obliges  the  compiler  to  omit.  In  the  preface 
to  the  second  edition,  the  professor  answers  the  critics  who 
objected  to  his  transmission-theory  of  cerebral  action  as  a 
doorway  to  immortality. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        157 

from  which  we  suffer,  an  insensibility  to  the  inner 
significance  of  alien  lives,  and  a  conceit  that  would 
project  our  own  incapacity  into  the  vast  cosmos,  and 
measure  the  wants  of  the  Absolute  by  our  own  puny 
needs. 

.  .  .  Not  a  being  of  the  countless  throng  is 
there  whose  continued  life  is  not  called  for,  and  called 
for  intensely,  by  the  consciousness  that  animates  the 
being's  form.  That  you  neither  understand  nor  call 
for  it,  that  you  have  no*  use  for  it,  is  an  absolutely 
irrelevant  circumstance.  That  you  have  a  saturation- 
point  of  interest  tells  us  nothing  of  the  interests  that 
absolutely  are.  The  Universe,  with  every  living 
entity  which  her  resources  create,  creates  at  the  same 
time  a  call  for  that  entity,  and  an  appetite  for  its  con- 
tinuance,— creates  it,  if  nowhere  else,  at  least  within 
the  heart  of  the  entity  itself.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose, 
simply  because  our  private  power  of  sympathetic 
vibration  with  other  lives  gives  out  so  soon,  that  in 
the  heart  of  infinite  being  itself  there  can  be  such  a 
thing  as  plethora,  or  glut,  or  supersaturation.  It  is 
not  as  if  there  were  a  bounded  room  where  the  minds 
in  possession  had  to  move  up  or  make  place  and 
crowd  together  to  accommodate  new  occupants.  Each 
new  mind  brings  its  own  edition  of  the  universe  of 
space  along  with  it,  its  own  room  to  inhabit;  and 
these  spaces  never  crowd  each  other, — the  space  of 
my  imagination,  for  example,  in  no  way  interferes 
with  yours.  ...  I  speak,  you  see,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  all  the  other  individual  beings, 
realizing  and  enjoying  inwardly  their  own  existence. 
If  we  are  pantheists,  we  can  stop  there.  We  need 
only  say  that  through  them,  as  through  so  many 
diversified  channels  of  expression,  the  eternal  spirit 
of  the  Universe  affirms  and  realizes  its  own  infinite 
life.     But  if  we  are  theists,  we  can  go  farther  with- 


1 58  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

out  altering  the  result.  God,  we  can  then  say,  has 
so  inexhaustible  a  capacity  for  love  that  his  call  and 
need  is  for  a  literally  endless  accumulation  of  created 
lives.  He  can  never  faint  or  grow  weary,  as  we 
should,  under  the  increasing  supply.  His  scale  is 
infinite  in  all  things.  His  sympathy  can  never  know 
satiety  or  glut. 

Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Pres- 
ident University  of  California,  in  his  Inger- 
soll  lecture,  "Dionysos  and  Immortality." 

.  .  .  Without  Dionysos  and  Orphism  there 
could  have  been  no  Plato.  Plato's  philosophy  builds 
on  a  faith,  and  that  faith  is  Dionysism.  Everywhere 
in  his  thinking  religion  gleams  through  the  thin  gauze 
of  philosophic  form,  and  except  his  system  be  under- 
stood as  a  religion  and  as  a  part  of  the  history  of 
Greek  religion,  it  yields  no  consistent  interpretation, 
and  is  not  intelligible  either  in  its  whence  or  whither. 
The  things  many  and  various  he  has  to  tell  about 
the  Ideas  refuse  to  take  orderly  place  and  position  in 
a  doctrine  of  logical  realism  such  as  metaphysics 
teaches,  but  are  satisfied  all  in  a  doctrine  of  spiritual- 
ity and  the  higher  life,  such  as  poetry  and  religion  can 
preach. 

The  universe  which  Plato  feels  is  in  substance  the 
universe  which  the  Dionysos  enthusiasms  presuppose. 
There  is  a  world  of  the  outward  and  material,  behind 
it  is  a  world  of  the  unchanging  norm,  the  essential 
purpose,  the  supreme  reality.  To  the  former  belongs 
the  body,  to  the  latter  by  nature  and  source  the  soul. 
This  mortal  life  is  an  entanglement  of  the  soul  in  the 
meshes  of  the  material.  Still,  through  the  perverting 
and  obscuring  medium  of  that  which  enfolds  it  the 
soul  catches  glimpses  of  the  true,  and  gathers  intima- 
tions of  its  own  kinship  with  the  ideal  and  the  abid- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        159 

ing.  All  the  Platonic  arguments  for  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  in  the  Phaedrus,  in  the  Republic,  in  the 
Phaedo,  diverse  as  they  seem,  unite  as  being  merely 
various  ways  or  devices  for  setting  forth  a  central 
faith  whose  first  inspiration  had  come  from  the 
Dionysos  cult. 

The  influence  of  Eleusis  and  of  Dionysos  covers 
all  the  latter  day  of  Hellenic  life,  but  peculiarly 
strong  is  it  written  upon  the  thought  and  in  the  lit- 
erature of  the  closing  years  of  the  sixth  century  and 
of  the  greater  portions  of  the  faith.  The  sixth  cen- 
tury marked  a  period  of  genuine  religious  revival, 
— not  a  revival  merely  of  observance  and  rites,  but  a 
stirring  of  the  personal  interest  in  matters  of  faith 
and  personal  destiny  that  approaches  the  develop- 
ment of  what  we  know  as  personal  religion.  We 
miss,  to  be  sure,  from  our  point  of  view,  the  firm 
outlines  of  a  formulated  theologic  faith  concerning 
personal  relation  to  the  eternal,  such  as  we  are  wont 
to  identify  with  personal  religion;  but  men  were 
thinking  in  terms  of  individual  responsibility,  and 
forms  of  theology  distinct  from  the  state  and  tribal 
types  were  emerging  and  were  preparing  the  way  for 
the  rationalism  of  which  Euripides  stands  in  literature 
as  the  early  exponent. 

Expressions  concerning  the  life  after  death,  how- 
ever much  they  might  cling  to  the  traditional  moulds 
of  the  old-time,  or  to  what  we  may  call  the  Hom- 
eric, faith  regarding  the  geography  of  Hades, 
showed,  as  contrasted  with  the  Homeric  view,  a  rad- 
ical change  in  the  conception  of  the  life  itself.  Thus 
Pindar: 

11  Victory  setteth  free  the  essayer  from  the  struggle's 
griefs,  yea,  and  the  wealth  that  a  noble  nature  hath 
made  glorious  bringeth  power  for  this  and  that,  put- 
ing  into  the  heart  of  man  a  deep  and  eager  mood,  a 


160  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

star  far  seen,  a  light  wherein  a  man  shall  trust,  if  but 
the  holder  thereof  knoweth  the  things  that  shall  be, 
how  that  of  all  who  die  the  guilty  souls  pay  penalty, 
for  all  the  sins  sinned  in  this  realm  of  Zeus  One 
judgeth  under  earth,  pronouncing  sentence  by 
unloved  constraint. 

"But  evenly  ever  in  sunlight  night  and  day  an 
unlaborious  life  the  good  receive,  neither  with  vio- 
lent hand  vex  they  the  earth  nor  the  waters  of  the 
sea,  in  that  new  world;  but  with  the  honored  of 
the  gods,  whosoever  had  pleasure  in  keeping  of 
oaths,  they  possess  a  tearless  life;  but  the  other  part 
suffer  pain  too  dire  to  look  upon. 

"Then  whosoever  have  been  of  good  courage  to 
the  abiding  steadfast  thrice  on  either  side  of  death, 
and  have  refrained  their  souls  from  all  iniquity, 
travel  the  road  of  Zeus  unto  the  tower  of  Kronos; 
there  around  the  islands  of  the  blest  the  ocean  breezes 
blow,  and  golden  flowers  are  glowing,  some  from  the 
land  on  trees  of  splendor,  and  some  the  water  feed- 
eth,  with  wreaths  whereof  they  entwine  their  hands. 
So  ordereth  Rhadamanthos'  just  decree,  whom  at  his 
own  right  hand  hath  ever  the  father  Kronos,  husband 
of  Rhea,  throned  above  all  worlds." 

Similarly  in  the  following  fragments  of  dirges : 

"For  them  shineth  below  the  strength  of  the  sun 
while  in  our  world  it  is  night,  and  the  space  of  crim- 
son-flowered meadows  before  their  city  is  full  of  the 
shade  of  frankincense  trees,  and  of  fruits  of  gold. 
And  some  in  horses,  and  in  bodily  feats,  and  some 
in  dice,  and  some  in  harp-playing  have  delight;  and 
among  them  thriveth  all  fair-flowered  bliss  and  frag- 
rance streameth  ever  through  the  lovely  land,  as 
they  mingle  incense  of  every  kind  upon  the  altars  of 
the  gods. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        161 

"By  happy  lot  travel  all  unto  an  end  that  giveth 
them  rest  from  toils.  And  the  body  indeed  is  sub- 
ject unto  the  great  power  of  death,  but  there  remain- 
eth  yet  alive  a  shadow  of  the  life;  for  this  only  is 
from  the  gods;  and  while  the  limbs  stir,  it  sleepeth, 
but  unto*  sleepers  in  dreams  discovereth  oftentimes 
the  judgment  that  draweth  nigh  for  sorrow  or  for 
joy." 

Most  significant  here,  as  betraying  how  fully  Pin- 
dar's thought  shaped  itself  in  Dionysiac  or  Orphic 
moulds,  are  the  expressions  "this  only  is  from  the 
gods,"  and  "while  the  limbs  stir,  it  sleepeth.' ' 
The  real  existence  of  the  soul  as  the  divine 
element  of  man's  life  is  the  existence  freed 
from  the  constraint  o«f  the  body  which  dulls 
it  and  prevents  it  from  seeing  and  knowing 
darkly."  .  .  .  It  is  in  the  light  of  this  sense  for  a 
clearly.  This  is  Paul's  "Now  we  see  in  a  mirror 
continuance  of  personal  ties  beyond  the  grave,  that 
the  Attic  sepulchral  monuments,  with  their  peaceful 
scenes  of  family  reunion  and  association,  must  find 
their  rightful  interpretation.  It  remained  now  for 
Plato,  in  harmony  with  this  newly  quickened  concep- 
tion of  a  real  personal  continuance  after  death  and 
continuance  in  a  life  bearing  relations  to  the  life  on 
earth,  to  offer  the  first  philosophic  argument  for  the 
immortality  of  the  soul. 

The  chirping  psyches  of  Homer's  netherworld  were 
mere  phantom  apologies  to  a  stolid,  helpless  belief  in 
continuance;  the  offerings  to  the  dead  practised 
among  the  early  non-Homeric  Greeks  were  a  tribute 
to  the  idea  of  tribal  and  family  unity.  This  was  all 
that  the  older  faith  of  the  Greeks  could  offer. 

With  Dionysos,  however,  there  came  into  Greek 
religion  and  thought  a  new  element,  an  utterly  new 
point  of  view.    He  taught  his  followers  to  know  that 


1 62  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

the  inner  life  of  man,  the  soul,  is  of  like  substance 
with  the  gods,  and  that  it  may  commune  with  the 
divine.  Before  the  days  of  his  revelation  there  had 
been  between  the  generations  of  mortal  men,  who  fell 
like  the  generations  of  leaves,  and  the  undying  gods 
whose  food  is  ambrosia  and  whose  drink  nectar,  a 
gulf  fixed  deep  and  impassable.  After  his  revelation 
the  soul  was  divine  and  might  claim  an  immortality 
like  to  that  of  the  gods. 

Dionysos  had  waited  long  in  the  vales  of  Nysa  and 
Parnassos,  buried  like  the  uncut  gem  in  crude  and 
uncouth  guise,  but  when  the  need  and  desire  of  men 
sought  after  him  he  came  to  help.  A  human  hand, 
lifting  its  grasp  toward  immortality,  stands  a  mute 
witness  to  a  consciousness  arising  in  the  single  human 
soul  that  it  has  a  meaning  in  itself,  that  it  has  a  pur- 
pose and  a  mission  of  its  own,  that  it  holds  direct 
account  with  the  heart  of  the  world,  and  of  a  world 
to  whose  peerage  it  belongs  and  with  whose  plan  and 
reason  it  has  rights  and  a  hearing. 

The  faiths  of  men  are  quoted  under  various  names 
and  are  set  forth  in  various  articles,  but  we  may  not 
be  confused  thereby,  for  men  are  men;  control  of 
nature  has  grown  stronger  and  history  longer  since 
the  day  when  Greece  first  frankly  and  straight  looked 
nature  and  life  in  the  face,  but  man  himself  stays 
much  the  same, — given  the  same  conditions,  the  plain 
touch  of  need  makes  all  the  centuries  kin. 

If  in  the  throb  of  Dionysos's  passion  men  seem  to 
gain  an  insight  into  the  spiritual  harmonies  of  nature, 
and  intimations  of  their  own  potential  kinship  with 
the  divine,  which  cold  reason  and  dull  sense  had  not 
availed  to  give,  it  was  still  dim,  groping  vision ;  but 
yet  the  face  was  set  thither,  where,  in  a  later  day, — 
a  day  for  which  Greece  and  Dionysos  prepared, — 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        163 

men  learned  through  the  Convincing  Love  to  know 
and  live  the  eternity  within  them. 
Berkeley,  Cal. 


Josiah  Royce,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  the  His- 
tory of  Philosophy,  Harvard  University,  in  his 
Ingersoll  lecture,  "The  Conception  of  Immor- 
tality." 
.     .     .     When  we  ask  about  the  Immortality  of 
Man,  it  is  the  permanence  of  the  Individual  Man 
concerning  which  we  mean  to  inquire,  and  not  pri- 
marily the  permanence  of  the  human  type,  as  such, 
nor  the  permanence  of  any  other  system  of  laws  or 
relationships. 

But  in  philosophy  we  who  study  any  of  these  fun- 
damental problems  are  unwilling  to  assert  anything 
about  a  given  subject,  unless  we  first  understand  what 
we  mean  by  that  subject.  Philosophy  turns  alto- 
gether upon  trying  to  find  out  what  our  various  fun- 
damental ideas  mean.  Thus,  when  in  practical  life, 
you  act  dutifully,  you  may  not  be  wholly  clear  as  to 
just  what  you  mean  by  your  duty;  but  when  you  study 
Moral  Philosophy  your  primal  question  is,  What 
does  the  very  Idea  of  Duty  mean?  Now  precisely 
so,  in  case  of  the  Immortality  of  the  Individual  Man, 
the  question  arises,  What  do  we  mean  when  we  talk 
of  an  individual  man  at  all?  But  this  question,  to  my 
mind,  is  not  a  mere  preliminary  to  an  inquiry  con- 
cerning immortality,  but  it  includes  by  far  the  larger 
part  of  just  that  inquiry  itself.     For  unless  we  know 


*For  President  Wheeler's  scholarly  exposition  of  the 
Greek  faith  in  immortality  as  affected  by  the  rise  of  individ- 
ualism, see  the  volume  published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
These  extracts  are  from  the  concluding  pages  of  the  lecture. 


1 64  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

what  an  individual  man  is,  we  have  no  business  even 
to  raise  the  question  whether  he  is  immortal.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  we  can  discover  what  we  mean 
by  an  individual  man,  the  very  answer  to  that  ques- 
tion will  take  us  so  far  into  the  heart  of  things,  and 
will  imply  so  much  as  to*  our  views  about  God,  the 
World,  and  Man's  place  in  the  world,  that  the  ques- 
tion about  the  immortality  of  man  will  become,  in  a 
great  measure,  a  mere  incident  in  the  course  of  this 
deeper  discussion.  Accordingly,  I  shall  here  raise, 
and  for  the  larger  part  of  this  lecture  shall  pursue, 
an  inquiry  concerning  what  we  mean  by  an  Individual 
Man.  Only  towards  the  end  of  this  discussion  shall 
we  come  clearly  to  see  that  in  defining  the  Individual 
Man,  we  have  indeed  been  defining  his  Immortality. 

So  far,  then,  as  we  live  and  strive  at  all,  our  lives 
are  various,  are  needed  for  the  whole,  and  are  unique. 
No  one  of  these  lives  can  be  substituted  for  another. 
No  one  of  us  finite  beings  can  take  another's  place. 
And  all  this  is  true  just  because  the  Universe  is  one 
significant  whole. 

That  follows  from  our  general  doctrine  concerning 
our  unique  relation,  as  various  finite  expressions  tak- 
ing place  within  the  single  whole  of  the  divine  life. 
But  now,  with  this  result  in  mind,  let  us  return  again 
to  the  finite  realms,  and  descend  from  our  glimpse  of 
the  divine  life  to  the  dim  shadows  and  to  the  wil- 
derness of  this  world,  and  ask  afresh:  But  what  is 
the  meaning  of  my  life  just  now?  What  place  do  I 
fill  in  God's  world  that  nobody  else  either  fills  or  can 
fill? 

How  disheartening  in  one  sense  is  still  the  inevit- 
able answer.  I  state  that  answer  again  in  all  its  neg- 
ative harshness.  I  reply  simply:  For  myself,  I  do 
not  now  know  in  any  concrete  human  terms  wherein 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        165 

my  individuality  consists.  In  my  present  human  form 
of  consciousness  I  simply  canot  tell.  If  I  look  to 
see  what  I  ever  did  that,  for  all  I  now  know,  some 
other  man  might  not  have  done,  I  am  utterly  unable 
to  discover  the  certainly  unique  deed.  ...  I 
only  know  that  I  have  always  tried  to  be  myself  and 
nobody  else.  This  mere  aim  I  indeed  have  observed, 
but  that  is  all.  As  for  you,  my  beloved  friend,  1 
loyally  believe  in  your  uniqueness ;  but  whenever  I  try 
to  tell  you  wherein  it  consists,  I  helplessly  describe 
only  a  type.  That  type  may  be  uncommon.  But  it 
is  not  you.  For  as  soon  as  described,  it  might  have 
other  examples.  But  you  are  alone.  Yet  I  never 
tell  what  you  are.  And  if  your  face  lights  up  my 
world  as  no  other  can — well,  this  feeling  too,  when 
viewed  as  the  mere  psychologist  has  to  view  it, 
appears  to  be  simply  what  all  the  other  friends  report 
about  their  friends.  It  is  an  old  story,  this  life  of 
ours.  There  is  nothing  new  under  our  sun.  Noth- 
ing new,  that  is,  for  us,  as  we  now  feel  and  think. 
When  we  imagine  that  we  have  seen  or  defined 
uniqueness  and  novelty,  we  soon  feel  a  little  later 
the  illusion.  We  live  thus,  in  one  sense,  so  lone- 
somely  here.  For  we  love  individuals;  we  trust  in 
them ;  we  honor  and  pursue  them ;  we  glorify  them 
and  hope  to  know  them.  But  after  we  have  once 
become  keenly  critical  and  worldly  wise,  we  know, 
if  we  are  sufficiently  thoughtful,  that  we  men  can 
never  either  find  them  with  our  eyes,  or  define  them 
in  our  minds;  and  that  hopelessness  of  find- 
ing what  we  most  love  makes  some  of  us  cyn- 
ical, and  turns  others  of  us  into  lovers  of  bar- 
ren abstractions,  and  renders  still  others  of  us 
slaves  to  monotonous  affairs  that  have  lost  for  us 
the  true  individual  meaning  and  novelty  that  we  had 
hoped  to  find  in  them.    Ah,  one  of  the  deepest  trage- 


1 66  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

dies  of  this  human  existence  of  ours  lies  in  this  very 
loneliness  of  the  awakened  critics  of  life.  We  seek 
true  individuality  and  the  true  individuals.  But  we 
find  them  not.  For  lo,  we  mortals  see  what  our  poor 
eyes  can  see;  and  they,  the  true  individuals, — they 
belong  not  to  this  world  of  our  merely  human  sense 
and  thought. 

They  belong  not  to  this  world,  in  so  far  as  our 
sense  and  our  thought  now  show  us  this  world !  Ah, 
therein, — just  therein  lies  this  very  proof  that  they 
even  now  belong  to<  a  higher  and  to  a  richer  realm 
than  ours.  Herein  lies  the  very  sign  of  their  true 
immortality.  For  they  are  indeed  real,  these  individ- 
uals. We  know  this,  first,  because  we  mean  them 
and  seek  them.  We  know  this,  secondly,  because,  in 
this  very  longing  of  ours,  God  too  longs;  and  because 
the  Absolute  life  itself,  which  dwells  in  our  life,  and 
inspires  these  very  longings,  possesses  the  true  world, 
and  is  that  world.  For  the  Absolute,  as  we  now 
know,  all  life  is  individual,  but  is  individual  as 
expressing  a  meaning.  Precisely  what  is  unexpressed 
here,  then,  in  our  world  of  mortal  glimpses  of  truth, 
precisely  what  is  sought  and  longed  for,  but  never  won 
in  this  our  human  form  of  consciousness,  just  that  is 
interpreted,  is  developed  into  its  true  wholeness,  is 
won  in  its  fitting  form,  and  is  expressed,  in  all  the 
rich  variety  of  individual  meaning  that  love  here 
seeks,  but  cannot  find,  and  is  expressed  too  as  a  por- 
tion, unique,  conscious,  and  individual,  of  an  Abso- 
lute Life  that  even  now  pulsates  in  every  one  of  our 
desires  for  the  ideal  and  for  the  individual.  We  all 
even  now  really  dwell  in  this  realm  of  a  reality  that 
is  not  visible  to  human  eyes.  We  dwell  there  as  indi- 
viduals. The  oneness  of  the  Absolute  Will  lives  in 
and  through  all  this  variety  of  life  and  love  and  long- 
;„^  +Un*-  n^r  ;s  o,7rs   J^t  cannot  I've  in  and  through 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        167 

all  without  working  out  to  the  full  precisely  that  indi- 
viduality of  purpose,  that  will  to  choose  and  to  love 
the  unique,  which  is  in  all  of  us  the  deepest  expression 
of  the  ideal.  Just  because,  then,  God  is  One,  all  our 
lives  have  various  and  unique  places  in  the  harmony 
of  the  divine  life.  And  just  because  God  attains  and 
wins  and  finds  this  uniqueness,  all  our  lives  win  in 
our  union  with  him  the  individuality  which  is  essential 
to  their  true  meaning.  And  just  because  individuals 
whose  lives  have  uniqueness  of  meaning  are  here  only 
objects  of  pursuit,  the  attainment  of  this  very  indi- 
viduality, since  it  is  indeed  real,  occurs  not  in  our 
present  form  of  consciousness,  but  in  a  life  that  now 
we  see  not,  yet  in  a  life  whose  genuine  meaning  is 
continuous  with  our  own  human  life,  however  far 
from  our  present  flickering  form  of  disappointed 
human  consciousness  that  life  of  the  final  individual- 
ity may  be.  Of  this  our  true  individual  life,  our 
present  life  is  a  glimpse,  a  fragment,  a  hint,  and  in 
its  best  moments  a  visible  beginning.  That  this 
individual  life  of  all  of  us  is  not  something  limited 
in  its  temporal  expression  to  the  life  that  we  now 
experience,  follows  from  the  very  fact  that  here  noth- 
ing final  or  individual  is  found  expressed. 

I  have  had  time  thus  only  to  hint  at  what  to  my 
mind  is  the  true  basis  o>f  a  rational  conception  of 
Immortality.  I  do  not  wish  to  have  the  concrete 
definitions  of  the  prophecies  which  can  be  based  upon 
this  conception  in  the  least  overrated.  Individuality 
we  mean  and  seek.  That,  in  God,  we  win  and  con- 
sciously win,  and  in  a  life  that  is  not  this  present 
mortal  life.  But  we  also  seek  pleasure,  riches,  joys. 
Those,  so  far  as  they  are  mere  types  of  facts,  we  as 
individuals  have  no  right  to  expect  to  win,  either 
here  or  elsewhere,  in  the  form  in  which  we  now  seek 
them.    How,  when,  where,  in  what  particular  higher 


1 68  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

'  form  of  finite  consciousness  our  various  individual 
meanings  get  their  final  and  unique  expression,  I  also 
in  no  wise  pretend  to  know  or  to-  guess.  The  con- 
fidence of  the  student  of  philosophy  when  he  speaks 
of  the  Absolute,  arouses  a  curiously  false  impression 
in  some  minds  that  he  supposes  himself  able  to  pierce 
further  into  all  the  other  mysteries  of  the  world  than 
others  do.  But  that  is  a  mistake.  I  have  had  no 
time  here  to  give  even  to  my  argument  for  my  con- 
ception of  the  Absolute  any  sort  of  exact  statement 
or  defense.  I  well  know  how  vague  my  hints  of 
general  idealism  have  been.  I  can  only  say  that  for 
that  aspect  of  my  argument  I  have  tried  to  give,  in  a 
proper  place,   a  fitting  defense. 

The  case,  however,  for  the  present  application  of 
my  argument  to  the  problem  of  Human  immortality 
lies  simply  in  these  plain  considerations :  v  ( i )  The 
world  is  a  rational  whole,  a  life,  wherein  the  divine 
will  is  uniquely  expressed.  (2)  Every  aspect  of  the 
Absolute  Life  must  therefore  be  unique  with  the 
uniqueness  of  the  whole,  and  must  mean  something 
that  can  only  get  an  individual  expression.  (3)  But 
in  this  present  life,  while  we.  constantly  intend  and 
mean  to  be  and  to  love  and  know  individuals,  there 
are,  for  our  present  form  of  consciousness,  no  true 
individuals  to  be  found  or  expressed  with  the  con- 
scious materials  now  at  our  disposal.  (4)  Yet  our 
life,  by  virtue  of  its  unity  with  the  Divine  Life,  must 
receive  in  the  end  a  genuinely  individual  and  signifi- 
cant expression.  (5)  We  men,  therefore,  to  our- 
selves, as  we  feel  our  own  strivings  within  us,  and  to 
one  another  as  we  strive  to  find  one  another,  and  to 
express  ourselves  to  one  another,  are  hints  of  a  real 
and  various  individuality  that  is  not  now  revealed 
to  us,  and  that  cannot  be  revealed  in  any  life  which 
merely  assumes  our  present  form  of  consciousness, 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        169 

or  which  is  limited  by  what  we  observe  between  our 
birth  and  death.  (6)  And  so,  finally,  the  various 
and  general  individuality  which  we  are  now  loyally 
meaning  to  express  gets,  from  the  Absolute  point  of 
view,  its  final  and  conscious  expression  in  a  life  that, 
like  all  life  such  as  Idealism  recognizes,  is  conscious, 
and  that  in  its  meaning,  although  not  at  all  neces- 
sarily in  time  or  in  space,  is  continuous  with  the  frag- 
mentary and  flickering  existence  wherein  we  now  see 
through  a  glass  darkly  our  relations  to  God  and  to 
the  final  truth. 

I  know  not  in  the  least,  I  pretend  not  to  guess,  by 
what  processes  this  individuality  of  our  human  life  is 
further  expressed,  whether  through  many  tribula- 
tions as  here,  or  whether  by  a  more  direct  road  to 
individual  fulfillment  and  peace.  I  know  only  that 
our  various  meanings,  through  whatever  vicissitudes 
of  fortune,  consciously  come  to  what  we  individually, 
and  God  in  whom  alone  we  are  individuals,  shall 
together  regard  as  the  attainment  of  our  unique 
place,  and  of  our  true  relationships  both  to  other 
individuals  and  to  the  all  inclusive  Individual,  God 
himself.  Further  into  the  occult  it  is  not  the  busi- 
ness of  philosophy  to  go.  My  nearest  friends  are 
already,  as  we  have  seen,  occult  enough  for  me.  I 
wait  until  this  mortal  shall  put  on — Individuality. 

Cambridge,  Mass.  y 


Mrs.  Ruth  McEnery  Stuart,  Author,  in  "A  Golden 
Wedding  and  Other  Tales!" 
The  sisters  turned  to  each  other,  opened  their  arms, 


*For  Prof.  Royce's  consideration  of  Individual  Man,  his 
relationship  to  humanity  and  to  the  Divine  Life,  see  the 
book  "The  Conception  of  Immortality,"  pages  4  to  70. 


170  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

and  fell  sobbing  each  upon  the  other's  shoulder. 
Thus  they  sat  for  some  moments,  and  when  they 
raised  their  heads  they  were  alone. 

"I  hope,"  said  Miss  Sophia,  wiping  her  eyes,  UI 
hope  pa  and  ma's  been  a  'lookin'  on  an'  list'nin', 
Sis !      'Twould  make  'em  happier,  even  in  Heaven," 

"Yas — an'  Sonny  too,  dearie.  I  hope  he's  been 
present — though  I  doubt  if  he'd  keer  so  much.  I  be- 
lieve he'd  enjoyed  more  bein'  upstairs  las'  night,  a- 
studyin'  the  birds  with  them  gentlemen." 

"I  reckon  you're  right,  Sis,  and  maybe  he  was.  I 
don't  be'lieve  the  good  Lord'd  hinder  'im  if  he 
wanted  to  come." 

New  York  City. 


Brig.-Gen.  Roeliff  Brinkerhoff,  Banker  and  Philan- 
thropist, in  the  Chicago  Record-Herald. 

THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST 

Let  me  suggest  to*  the  inquirer  to  focus 
attention  upon  one  of  these  alleged  miracles,  and  the 
greatest  of  all,  which  is  the  resurrection  of  Christ 
from  the  dead.  If  that  statement  of  fact  is  proved 
to  be  true,  there  is  no  occasion  to  waste  time  on  the 
other  miracles.  Some  of  them  may  be  unverified 
traditions,  and  many  of  the  Old  Testament  stories 
may  be  myths  or  allegories,  but  what  care  we  if 
Christ  rose  from  the  dead  ?  For  in  that  event  he  was 
a  divine  teacher,  and  all  his  promises  of  the  life  that 
now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come  are  trustworthy. 
All  I  can  do  is  to  point  the  way,  with  the  assurance 
that  starting  as  a  skeptical  lawyer,  over  fifty  years 
ago,  I  have  repeatedly  gone  over  the  whole  field,  and 
have  kept  pace  fairly  well,  I  think,  with  all  modern 
criticism. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        171 

Hence  my  deliberate  conclusion  is  that  there  is  no 
fact  in  history  contemporary  with  ot  antecedent  to 
the  death  of  Christ  which  is  so  fully  authenticated 
as  that  which  claims  that  Jesus  Christ  rose  from  the 
dead,  and  that  the  gospel  narratives  of  that  event  are 
strictly  true.  I  do  not  believe  that  any  jury  of  aver- 
age intelligence,  with  the  facts  before  them,  would 
fail  to  bring  in  a  unanimous  verdict,  "Proved  beyond 
a  reasonable  doubt." 

This  is  the  most  momentous  question  that  can  be 
presented  to  the  human  mind.  Upon  its  truthfulness 
Christianity  as  a  divine  revelation  must  stand  or  fall. 
The  Apostle  Paul  understood  this  perfectly,  and  he 
is  one  of  our  most  important  witnesses,  as  he  was  the 
first  to  put  into*  writing  the  facts  within  his  know- 
ledge. Paul  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians  (the 
genuineness  of  which  is  not  disputed  by  friend  or 
foe),  Chapter  xv,  verse  14,  says:  "If  Christ  be  not 
risen,  then  is  our  preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  also 
is  vain."  Elsewhere  he  says  there  were  about  five 
hundred  brethren  who,  like  himself,  had  seen  the 
risen  Christ,  and  the  most  of  them  were  yet  alive. 
(Second  Corinthians,  xv.  5.) 

Wherever  Paul  went  the  burden  of  his  message 
was  " Christ  and  the  resurrection,"  and  because  of  it 
he  received  scourings  and  imprisonments,  and  many 
other  indignities,  and  finally  death  itself  by  martyr- 
dom.    Was  Paul  a  liar? 

Contemporary  with  Paul  were  the  other  apostles, 
whose  testimony  we  have  in  the  four  gospels,  as 
recorded  by  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John,  and 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  recorded  by  Luke.  Is  the 
testimony  of  these  witnesses  trustworthy? 

To  me  the  grandest  moment  in  human  history  was 
the  meeting  of  Christ  with  Mary  Magdalene  in  the 
garden,  and  when,  upon  speaking  her  name  in  glad 


1 72  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

recognition,  she  exclaimed,  "Rabboni,"  (my  great 
master) .  I  can  never  read  this  account  or  even  think 
of  it  except  with  eyes  moistened  by  contagious  joy. 

For  fifty  years  past  the  leading  text  book  on  evi- 
dence is  conceded  by  all  lawyers  to  be  "Greenleaf  on 
Evidence/'  and  these  rules  of  evidence  were  applied 
by  him  in  a  separate  volume,  entitled  "The  Testi- 
mony of  the  Evangelists."  The  four  gospels  are 
printed  in  parallel  columns,  and  all  apparent  differ- 
ences are  considered  as  they  would  be  in  a  court  of 
law,  and  the  result  is  a  triumphant  verdict  in  favor  of 
their  truthfulness,  and  no  lawyer,  so  far  as  I  have 
knowledge,  has  ever  questioned  its  correctness. 
Greenleaf  only  considers  the  testimony  of  the  four 
evangelists,  but  in  addition  we  have  the  events  that 
followed,  as  recorded  in  the  epistles  of  Paul,  and  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  by  Luke. 

What  these  men  did  who  claimed  to  be  eye  wit- 
nesses of  the  appearance  of  the  risen  Christ  is  a  mat- 
ter of  authentic  history.  Without  any  hesitancy  they 
went  everywhere  proclaiming  Christ  and  the  resurrec- 
tion. Every  one  of  these  twelve  apostles,  with  the 
exception  of  John,  went  to  martyrdom.  Did  they  go 
to  death  with  a  lie  in  their  mouths?  Accepting  their 
testimony  as  true,  countless  thousands  following  their 
example  went  to  martyrdom.  Was  all  that  sacrifice 
and  suffering  based  upon  a  lie? 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  origin  of  Christian- 
ity, no  sane  mind  will  deny  that  it  is  the  most  potent 
and  beneficent  fact  in  history.  Like  every  other 
potential  force,  whether  material  or  spiritual,  its  de- 
velopment, with  many  relapses,  has  been  through 
storm  and  struggle  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  in 
accordance  wiith  the  universal  law  of  evolution. 
Through  many  centuries  slowly  but  surely  the  pre- 
cepts of  the   Divine  Nazarene  have  elevated   and 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        173 

humanized  the  nations,  and  to-day  whatever  we  have 
worthy  of  preservation  in  our  boasted  civilization  is 
the  outgrowth  of  Christianity  as  surely  as  an  oak  is 
the  outgrowth  of  an  acorn. 

No  man  who  has  ever  lived  upon  the  earth  has  had 
a  happier  life  than  I  have  had,  and  yet  if  that  is  all  it 
only  enhances  the  horror  of  the  possibility  of  non- 
existence  hereafter.  A  God  who  would  perpetrate 
such  a  condition  would  be  a  fiend  and  not  a  Father, 

No,  no!  Christ  is  risen,  and  He  says  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  in  Him  shall  not  perish,  but  shall  have 
everlasting  life. 

Mansfield,   0. 


Nathaniel  S.  Shaler,  Sc.  D.,  Dean  of  Lawrence 
Scientific  School  and  Professor  of  Geology, 
Harvard  University,  in  "The  Interpretation  of 
Nature!' 

THE     IMMORTALITY     OF     THE     SOUL 

FROM  THE  POINT  OF  VIEW  OF 

NATURAL  SCIENCE* 

.  The  attitude  of  scientific  men  towards  the 
doctrine  of  the  personal  immortality  of  the  soul  ap- 
pears to  be  a  matter  of  much  interest  to  the  public. 
Every  teacher  in  this  field  of  inquiry  finds  himself 
subject  to  frequent  interrogations  as  to  the  measure  of 
his  belief  in  a  future  life,  and  he  readily  discovers 
that  his  answers  have  an  undue  weight  with  those 
who  hear  them.  There  is  hardly  sufficient  reason  for 
this  desire  to  ascertain  the  views  of  naturalists  con- 


*Originally  one  of  the  course  of  lectures  on  the  Winkley 
foundation  given  by  Prof.  Shaler  before  the  students  of  An- 
dover  Theological  Seminary,   1891. 


i74  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

cerning  a  problem  which  clearly  lies  beyond  their 
province.  The  rules  of  their  calling  limit  them  to 
considerations  which  have  a  place  in  the  phenomenal 
world  alone.  If  they  go  far  from  the  facts  with 
which  they  have  to-  deal,  they  transgress  the  limits  of 
their  clearly  defined  field,  and  enter  wildernesses 
which  they  have  no  right  to  tread.  If  they  essay 
journeys  there,  they  must  make  them  without  the 
semblance  of  authority.  .  .  .  Although  the 
students  of  nature  are  by  the  rules  of  their  craft 
limited  to-  the  phenomenal  world,  they  have  been 
wont  to  express  their  convictions  as  to  the  possibilities 
of  existence  in  forms  independent  of  the  body,  and 
often  given  their  verdict  as  to  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  in  a  very  authoritative  manner.  In  general  their 
verdict  has  been  adverse  to  the  doctrine  of  immortal- 
ity. I  propose  to  consider  the  nature  of  the  founda- 
tions of  this  judgment,  and  in  general  to  take  account 
of  the  facts  which  appear  to  make  for  or  against 
the  view  that  the  essential  qualities  of  men  survive 
the  process  of  death.  The  reader  should  not  expect 
much  profit  from  these  considerations;  yet  while  the 
results  will  have  a  negative  rather  than  a  positive 
value,  they  may  serve  in  a  way  to  clear  the  ground 
of  certain  incumbrances,  and  to  show  in  a  definite 
manner  the  proper  attitude  of  those  who  cultivate 
physical  science  towards  the  large  questions  of  the 
hereafter. 

When  the  method  of  interpreting  nature  by 
means  of  observations  parted  from  the  more  ancient 
system  in  which  the  phenomena  of  the  world  were 
accounted  for  by  the  direct  interference  of  a  super- 
natural power,  the  votaries  of  the  new  science  natur- 
ally became  at  once,  and  to  a  very  great  extent,  eman- 
cipated from  the  bondage  of  ancient  beliefs.  They 
seemed  to  themselves  to  enter  upon  a  terrestrial  para- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        175 

dise  which  appeared  well  walled  off  from  the  mystical 
realm;  they  were  in  a  measure  excommunicated  by 
the  older  faith,  and  they  rejoiced  in  their  new-found 
freedom.  .  .  .  Many  a  man  of  to-day  person- 
ally experiences  the  influence  of  this  transition  which 
he  may  trace  in  the  whole  history  of  natural  science. 
if  from  the  intangible  realm  of  faith  or  philosophy, 
tfhere  he  sees  dimly  or  not  at  all,  he  comes  to  the 
study  of  clear-cut  natural  facts,  he  is  apt  to  be  en- 
chanted with  the  clear  seeing  which  he  at  once  enjoys. 
For  a  time  he  seems  to  be  in  a  realm  of 
light;  he  fancies  that  his  new  province  is  so  replete 
with  certainties  that  he  will  never  have  again  to  deal 
with  shadowy  things.  Antecedent  and  consequent 
are  so  distinctly  enchained  that  there  seems  no  place 
for  doubt ;  but  as  the  student  goes  on  in  his  work  he 
finds  that  his  ways  lead  from  beneath  the  ver- 
tical sun  which  illuminates  simple  truths  to  regions 
where  the  rays  become  more  and  more  aslant,  and 
in  the  end  the  light  fails  him  altogether.  He  is  then 
in  the  place  of  our  science  of  to-day,  where  the  men  of 
science  become  conscious  of  the  fact  that  they,  too, 
have  to  explore  the  darkness  if  they  would  seek  the 
answer  of  all  their  larger  questions. 

The  sturdy,  self-satisfied  denials  of  immortality; 
the  confident  statements  of  men  who  said  there  was 
no  soul  because  they  could  not  find  it  with  the  knife  or 
weigh  it  in  the  balance,  were  put  forth  in  the  days 
when  naturalists  had  but  begun  their  inquiries  in  the 
phenomenal  world.  Year  by  year  they  have  learned 
a  fitter  distrust  as  to  their  right  to  pass  a  final  judg- 
ment in  this  matter.  Steadfastly  they  have  come  to 
perceive  more  clearly  the  truth  that  they  really  abide 
in  a  universe,  and  that  the  part  which  is  revealed  to 
them  is  to  the  sum  of  the  facts  only  as  one  to  infinity. 
Gradually  it  has  been  forced  upon  them  that  they 


i76  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

too  have  to  assume  the  intangible  if  they  would  take 
any  firm  steps  in  explaining  series  of  facts  with  which 
they  have  to  deal.  A  large  part  of  this  caution  is  due 
to  our  study  of  organic  phenomena,  especially  in  that 
part  of  the  biologic  field  where  the  investigator  has  to 
consider  the  marvellous  truths  of  inheritance.  In 
face  of  these  facts  of  descent,  the  most  pragmatic 
naturalist  is  sure  to  learn  some  caution  in  his  criticism 
of  philosophers  and  theologians. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  most  insistent 
expressions  of  disbelief  as  to  the  endurance  of  the 
individual  after  the  body  has  been  resolved  into  its 
elements  have  come  from  the  students  of  biology, 
mainly  from  those  who  have  been  concerned  in  the 
anatomical  study  of  the  human  body.  In  these  men 
the  habit  of  the  commonplace,  which  so  tends  to  de- 
grade all  our  conceptions  of  nature,  has  led  to  the 
belief  that  the  unseen  was  non-existent.  It  is 
difficult  for  the  most  fair-minded  student  of  or- 
ganic forms  to  perceive  the  magnitude  of  the 
unknown  in  all  that  pertains  to  psychic  pheno- 
mena, so  long  as  his  inquiries  are  limited  to  an  in- 
dividual creature.  The  most  important  effect  from 
that  new  aspect  of  our  science  which  we  term  Dar- 
winian is  found  in  the  fact  that  it  has  forced  students 
to«  look  upon  each  separate  organism  as  a  mere  phase 
in  the  propagation  of  a  great  impulse,  which  has  been 
transmitted  through  an  inconceivably  long  series 
from  the  remote  past.  Here,  indeed,  we  find  the 
spiritual  element  in  our  modern  biologic  science, 
which  has  already  greatly  affected,  though  it  has  but 
begun  to  influence,  the  minds  of  naturalists. 

Not  only  has  this  sense  of  the  profound  depth  of 
the  unknown  sobered  the  minds  of  students  who  con- 
cern themselves  with  the  organic  world,  but  a  change 
in  the  views  concerning  the  constitution  of  matter  has 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        177 

also  done  much  to  bring  them  to  a  new  attitude  as  to 
the  substantial  foundations  of  the  phenomena  with 
which  they  have  to  deal.  A  generation  ago  we  con- 
ceived that  matter  was  an  inert  something  which  was 
quickened  into  activity  by  energy,  and  that  this  energy 
was  in  its  nature  essentially  different  from  the  physi- 
cal basis  of  the  universe.  The  confidence  of  those 
who  held  to  the  opinions  commonly  termed  material- 
istic was  largely  due  to  this  belief  in  the  dual  organi- 
zation of  nature.  Observing  the  ever-changing  char- 
acter of  the  natural  forces  and  the  endless  transmu- 
tations which  they  undergo  in  action,  and  noting  at 
the  same  time  what  seemed  to  them  the  inert  char- 
acter of  substance  except  when  stirred  into  motion, 
or  built  into  form,  they  naturally  were  led  to  deny 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  to  base  their  ne- 
gations, as  they  supposed,  on  a  firm  material 
foundation.  Of  late  years,  however,  the  opinion  has 
been  gaining  among  physicists  that  matter  itself  is 
but  a  mode  of  action  of  energy,  and  so  in  place  of  the 
dualistic  basis,  naturalists  are  being  driven  to  a  con- 
ception of  unity  as  regards  the  phenomenal  world. 

Until  the  phenomena  of  inheritance  were  in  a 
measure  appreciated,  biologists  generally  considered 
psychic  action  to-  be  a  mere  function  of  the  nervous 
system  and  to  owe  its  manifestations  to  some  peculi- 
arity in  the  structure  of  that  organic  part.  They 
regarded  the  mind  of  man  as  a  direct  product  of  the 
brain,  and  explained  the  coincidences  which  we  find 
among  all  the  individuals  of  a  kind  as  fully  accounted 
for  by  the  likeness  in  the  machinery  of  this  great 
nerve  centre.  It  was  therefore  only  necessary  to 
explain  the  uniformity  in  structure  of  the  central 
parts  in  order  sufficiently  to  explain  the  organ  of  the 
likeness  of  the  mental  phenomena  in  man  or  any  other 


178  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

species  of  animal;  they  had  but  to  suppose  a  law 
enforcing  the  shape  of  those  parts  to  account  for 
the  uniformity  of  the  product. 

The  facts  already  ascertained  concerning  the  con- 
ditions of  inheritance,  although  they  are  only  a  small 
part  of  what  we  have  to1  learn  in  the  matter,  show  us 
clearly  that  the  ancient  apparently  simple  explana- 
tion of  mental  phenomena  can  no  longer  be  safely 
trusted.  If  a  mechanical  explanation  can  be  used  at 
all,  it  must  be  vastly  more  complicated  than  that 
which  has  been  hitherto  adduced.  It  is  clear  that  all 
the  essential  qualities  of  the  mind  pass  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  over  the  reproductive  bridge,  borne 
onward  in  the  keeping  of  chemical  molecules.  Al- 
though in  the  higher  forms  the  ovum  has  the  cell 
character,  in  all  species,  even  up  to  man,  the  male 
element,  which  is  at  least  as  potent  as  the  female 
loses  its  cellular  structure  and  transmits  its  qualities 
through  its  molecular  organization  alone.  If  there 
be  any  organization  of  these  molecules  other  than 
that  of  a  purely  chemical  kind,  the  fact  entirely 
escapes  our  apprehension.  It  is  moreover  in  a  high 
degree  improbable  that  any  such  unseen  shaping 
actually  occurs.  We  are  thus  forced  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  ongoing  of  life  from  generation  to  gener- 
ation is  brought  about  in  large  measure  by  influences 
which  may  be  given  over  for  transmission  to  the 
simpler  aggregates  of  matter.  We  have  to  suppose 
that  these  associations  of  atoms,  at  most  a  few  score 
or  a  few  hundred  in  number,  which  are  the  units  of 
the  protoplasmic  mass,  can  effectively  contain  and 
transmit  the  important  elements  of  experience  ac- 
quired by  myriads  of  ancestors ;  that  they  can  convey 
this  experience  to  other  molecules,  and  so  from  gen- 
eration to  generation  of  the  molecular  scries ;  that  the 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        179 

impulses  will  assert  themselves  at  the  right  time  and 
place  in  the  developing  organism. 

The  way  in  which  the  generational  transmission  is 
effected  not  only  goes  quite  beyond  our  field  of  know- 
ledge, but  appears  also  to  transcend  the  limits  of  the 
scientific  imagination. 

There  is  only  one  conclusion  of  evident  value,  at 
least  at  the  present  time,  which  we  can  gain  from  the 
facts  above  noted,  and  this  is  in  effect  that  matter, 
even  in  its  simpler  states  of  organization  in  the  atom 
or  molecule,  may  contain  a  practically  infinite  body  of 
latent  powers.  So  far,  of  course,  we  have  seen  this 
soul-bearing  capacity  of  matter  in  its  simpler  states 
only  in  the  organic  realms;  but  he  would  be  a  rash 
man  who  should  affirm  that  this  was  the  only  place 
in  nature  where  the  material  or  chemical  substances 
were  enabled  to  become  the  keepers  of  intellectual 
seed.  From  an  a  priori  point  of  view,  and  without 
reference  to  the  facts  which  we  have  gained  concern- 
ing the  sequences  of  ordinary  life,  it  appears  to  me 
less  difficult  to  suppose  the  capacities  of  an  individual 
mind,  to  be  perpetuated  after  death,  and  this  in  a 
natural  manner,  than  to  explain  the  phenomena  of  in- 
heritance which  are  clearly  indicated  in  the  organic 
series.  To  account  for  these  evident  truths  demands 
the  supposition  of  such  colossal  potentialities  in  the 
psychic  capacities  of  matter  that  we  can  hardly  see 
a  limit  to  the  field  of  its  possible  action. 

It  is  quite  beyond  the  province  of  the  naturalist 
to  suggest  any  ways  in  which  intelligence,  parted  by 
death  from  its  habitation,  can  be  preserved;  he  has 
no  evidence  that  such  preservation  actually  occurs. 
He  should  be  the  last  man  to  deny  that  the  vast  body 
of  individual  experience  which  seems  to  indicate  the 
existence  of  visible  forms  representing  the  departed, 
is  a  mere  mass  of  falsehoods ;  he  can  only  say  that  the 


180  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

conditions  of  all  such  observations  are  such  as  make 
anything  like  scientific  inquiry  exceedingly  difficult 
if  not  quite  impossible.  It  is  too  soon  to  say  what 
may  come  forth  from  the  devoted  inquiries  of  those 
persons  who,  in  certain  cases  well  trained  in  observa- 
tion, are  giving  their  lives  in  endeavoring  to  verify 
these  ancient  beliefs  in  apparitions. 

There  is  another  effect  which  bears  on  the  interest 
in  immortality,  one  derived  from  the  close  study  of 
nature,  which  is  hard  to  set  forth  in  words.  When 
the  student  comes  to  feel,  as  the  intellectually  pros- 
perous naturalist  always  does,  that  he  is  part  of  a 
vast  tide,  or  rather  a  portion  of  a  gigantic  organiza- 
tion which  is  moving  forward  steadfastly  in  the  con- 
trod  of  an  order,  of  a  purpose,  he  becomes  content  to 
abandon  himself  to  the  power  which  controls  his 
action,  or  rather  we  should  say  to  go  freely  and 
energetically  in  the  path  on  which  he  is  impelled, 
without  regard  to  the  goal,  but  with  perfect  con- 
fidence that  whatever  the  destination  it  is  in  all  senses 
fit.  If  he  is  to  live  forever,  that  life  will  be  good 
for  the  whole;  if  he  is  to  be  extinguished  or  changed, 
as  are  the  mere  vibrations  of  matter,  then  that,  too, 
is  for  the  good  of  the  whole. 

There  is  yet  another  effect  arising  from  the  study 
of  nature  which  is  not  without  its  influence  on  our 
views  concerning  immortality.  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  most  naturalists  acquire  a  kind  of  instinct 
which  leads  them  to  suppose  underlying  purposes, 
or  at  least  continuous  trends,  in  the  course  of  uni- 
versal events.  Thus  they  perceive  a  steadfast 
progress  from  the  lower  stages  of  inorganic  to  the 
higher  forms  of  organic  existence.  It  seems,  in  a 
way,  a  denial  of  the  observed  order  to  suppose  that 
the  series  is  interrupted  with  the  death  which  over- 
takes each  individual,  and    which    must,    with    the 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        181 

cooling  of  the  suns,  overwhelm  all  the  higher  life 
which  the  planets  bear.  For  one,  I  cannot  help 
looking  upon  absolute  death,  that  kind  of  passing 
a*way  which  would  leave  organic  life  quite  without 
issue,  as  in  a  way  offensive  to'  my  understanding,  and 
as  a  measure  out  of  the  observed  order  of  pheno- 
mena. Clearly  the  trend  of  all  the  ages  the  history 
of  which  we  can  trace  has  led  to  the  integration 
of  energy  in  higher  intelligence.  It  is  a  most  un- 
satisfactory supposition  that  all  this  toil  and  pains  is 
to  be  without  fruit.  It  is  by  no  means  certain  that 
the  fit  harvest  is  personal  immortality ;  but,  so  far  as 
we  can  see,  the  unknown  continuation  of  the  known 
is  best  satisfied  by  the  hypothesis  that  life  is  in  some 
way  perpetuated,  with  all  the  personal  profit  which 
has  been  attained  by  that  greatest  of  all  natural 
results,  the  individual  soul.* 
Cambridge,   Mass. 


Felix  Adler,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Political  arid  Social 
Ethics,  Columbia  University,  Founder  Ni  w 
York  Society  for  Ethical  Culture,  in  "Life  and 
Destiny" 

IMMORTALITY 

The  dead  are  not  dead  if  we  have  loved  them 
truly.  In  our  own  lives  we  can  give  them  a  kind  of 
immortality.  Let  us  arise  and  take  up  the  work  they 
have  left  unfinished,  and  preserve  intact  the  treasures 
they  have  won,  and  round  out,  if  possible,  the  circuit 
of  their  being  to  the  fulness  of  an  ampler  orbit  in 
our  own. 

They  that  have  left  us  are  not  afar;  their  presence 
is  near  and  real,  a  silent  and  august  companionship. 
In  still  hours  of  meditation,  in  the  stress  of  action, 


Trof.  Shaler  died  April  10,  1906. 


1 82  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

in  the  midst  of  trials  and  temptations,  we  hear  their 
voices  whispering  words  of  cheer  or  warning,  and 
our  deeds  are,  in  a  sense,  their  deeds,  and  our  lives 
their  lives. 

So  does  the  light  of  other  days  still  shine  in  the 
bright-hued  flowers  that  clothe  our  fields.  So  do 
they  who  have  long  since  been  gathered  into  the  silent 
city  of  the  dead  still  live  in  the  deeds  we  do  for  their 
sake,  in  the  earnest  effort  we  put  forth  toward  greater 
rectitude,  patience,  purity,  under  the  influence  of  their 
unforgetable  memories. 

The  conservation  of  moral  energy  is  in  a  certain 
sense  as  true  as  the  conservation  of  mechanical  en- 
ergy. We  are  not  dust  merely  that  returns  to  dust; 
we  are  not  summer  flies  that  bask  in  the  sunshine  of 
a  passing  day;  we  are  not  bounded  in  our  influence 
by  the  narrow  boundary  of  our  years.  In  aspiring 
to  noble  ends,  the  soul  takes  on  something  of  the 
greatness  of  that  which  it  truly  admires. 

The  evident  disparity  between  virtue  and  happi- 
ness has  led  men  to  take  refuge  in  the  thought  of 
compensation  hereafter,  and  the  necessity  of  a  future 
state  in  which  the  good  shall  be  rewarded  and  the 
evil  punished  has  been  deduced  from  the  very  inequi- 
ties and  moral  inconsistencies  of  our  present  experi- 
ence. The  argument  in  this  specific  form  is  worth- 
less; but  it  is  based,  nevertheless,  upon  a  capital 
truth — the  truth,  namely,  that  our  moral  ideal  is 
destined  to  be  realized,  though  we  may  not  now 
know  how  it  will  be  realized. 

Vast  possibilities  suggest  themselves  to  us  of  an 
order  of  existence  wholly  different  from  all  that  we 
have  ever  known ;  a  gleam  reaches  the  eye,  as  it  were, 
from  a  far  celestial  land,  and  the  crimson  dawn  of 
a  sun  of  Truth  appears,  to  which  the  splendors  of 
our  earthly  mornings  are  as  obscurity. 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 


A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        183 


As  for  myself,  I  admit  that  I  do  not  so  much 
desire  immortality  as  that  I  do  not  see  how  I  can 
escape  it.  If  I,  as  an  individual,  am  actually  under 
obligation  to  achieve  perfection,  if  the  command 
"Be  ye  therefore  perfect"  is  addressed,  not  only  to 
the  human  race  in  general,  but  to  every  single  mem- 
ber of  it  (and  it  is  thus  that  I  must  interpret  the 
moral  imperative) ,  then  on  moral  grounds  I  do  not 
see  how  my  being  can  stop  short  of  the  attainment 
marked  out  for  it,  of  the  goal  set  up  for  it. 

What  may  be  the  nature  of  that  other  life  it  is 
impossible  to  know  and  it  is  useless  toi  speculate. 
Such  terms  as  consciousness,  individuality,  even  per- 
sonality, are  but  finite  screens  which  give  no  adequate 
clew  to  the  infinite  for  which  they  stand.  Only  this 
I  feel  warranted  in  holding  fast  to — that  the  root  of 
my  selfhood,  the  best  that  is  in  me,  my  true  and  only 
being,  cannot  perish.  In  regard  to  that  the  notion 
of  death  seems  to  me  to  be  irrelevant. 

New  York  City. 


James  M.Peebles,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Ph.D.,  Editor  and 
Physician,  in  "Immortality  and  Our  Employ- 
ments Hereafter" 

THE  MYSTERIES  OF  LIFE 

.  .  .  All  organic  life  begins  in  a  simple  cell. 
Every  organized  structure  is  but  an  aggregation  of 
these  cells ;  and  not  only  the  specific  form  which  the 
aggregate  assumes,  but  the  distinctive  character  of 
each  component  cell  depends  upon  a  soul-germ  or 
pre-existing  type  which  embodies  the  genius  or  idea 
of  which  the  material  structure  is  plus  the  influences 
of  the  environment,  the  expression. 

"A  single  elementary  atom,"  says  that  prince  of 


1 84  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

modern  philosophers,  Professor  Balfour  Stewart,  uis 
a  truly  immortal  being,  and  enjoys  the  privilege  of 
remaining  unaltered  by  the  powerful  blows  that  can 
be  dealt  against  it."  No  solid  thinker  believes  in 
the  destructibility  of  either  matter  or  spirit.  The 
conservation  of  spiritual  energies  is  as  true  as  the 
demonstrated  conservation  of  forces. 

The  soul  being  a  living  force,  is  necessarily  im- 
mortal. It  is  the  visible  and  phenomenal  forms  and 
qualities  only  that  change.  The  celestial  angels  ever  see 
these  elementary  atoms, — these  unconscious  monads 
that  exist  in  the  golden  splendor  of  their  underived 
immortality.  Infilled  with  pure  spirit, — aflame  with 
the  divine  life — these  monads,  these  "firsts"  of  things, 
vibrate,  rotate,  repel,  unite,  form  organic  relations, 
and,  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  universal  order,  take 
on  an  ultimate  expression  by  becoming  incarnated  in 
a  material  form. 

Consciousness  is  coeval  and  coordinate  with  life. 
What  we  commonly  consider  our  soul  is  not,  logi- 
cally speaking,  ours;  but  we  are  its.  The  soul — a 
potentialized  and  individualized  portion  of  the  Over- 
Soul,  God — is  the  man.  Life  is  the  aromal  garment 
of  the  spirit,  and  its  most  immediate  vehicle  of  ex- 
pression. The  spiritual  is  the  real,  the  permanent, 
and  each  mortal  is  in  the  spirit  world  now,  though 
veiled  from  its  surpassing  glories  by  the  material 
organism.  The  Divine  Order  prescribes  the  descent 
of  the  soul  into  a  mortal  body,  and  by  that  descent 
the  spiritual  perceptions  become  temporarily  dim- 
med; they  are  folded  away,  as  it  were,  in  a  casket, 
and  lie  in  a  state  of  partial  inaction  during  the  night- 
season  of  earthly  unfoldment,  preparatory  to  the 
splendors  of  a  new  cycle  of  wakefulness  and  un- 
obscured  lucidity. 

Absence  of  consciousness  is  no»  proof  of  non-exist- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        185 

ence,  inasmuch  as  sleep  and  wakefulness  are  alter- 
nating states  of  the  thinking  man;  and  these  states 
should  not  be  confounded  with  the  subject  to  which 
they  relate.  The  individual  who  becomes  blind 
from  a  cataract  upon  the  eye  is  still  in  the  same 
world.  Traveling,  even  into  foreign  countries,  does 
not  help  him  to  the  light;  but  remove  the  film,  and  he 
readily  perceives  that  the  light  is  all  around  him. 
The  spiritual  senses  are  so  eclipsed,  so  bleared  with 
the  material,  that  we  do  not  see  the  spiritual  world 
that  bathes  and  enfolds  us  like  a  crystal  ocean. 

Electricity,  light,  magnetism,  interstellar  ether, — 
these  are  only  the  realized  envelopes  and  elastic 
vehicles  of  spiritual  forces.  Certain  conditions  de- 
velop or  bring  into  outward  expression  their  poten- 
tialities. And  laws,  so  called,  are  the  deific  methods, 
the  defined  order  in  which  the  Divine  Presence  oper- 
ates. Essential  Spirit  alone  interpermeates  and  con- 
stitutes the  qualities  of  all  things.  There  are  no 
abstract  qualities, — that  is  to*  say,  qualities  abstracted 
from  their  substances.  They  inhere  in  them. 
Strength  is  not  outside  of  the  being  that  exercises  it. 
Acid  properties  do  not  exist  apart  from  the  substances 
containing  them.  So  love,  goodness,  truth,  are  not 
abstract  powers,  but  necessary  attributes  that  inhere 
in  the  very  constitution  of  every  sentient  being, 
whether  man  or  angel.  Accordingly,  men  and 
women  are  spirits  now.  They  live  and  walk  in  the 
spirit  world,  though  encased  in  mortal  clothing; 
their  sensations,  qualities,  and  all  their  higher  emo^ 
tions,  are  also  spiritual,  yet  veiled  for  the  present 
under  the  vestured  disguise  of  matter. 

It  will  be  admitted  that  extension,  divisibility,  and 
inertia  are  among  the  principal  attributes  of  matter. 
But  be  this  as  it  may,  matter  at  most  is  only  the 
unreal,  shadowy  shell  of  things — the  passive  or  stat- 


1 86  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

ical  condition  for  the  action  of  force.  It  serves  as 
the  limiting  wall  for  the  utilization  of  spiritual  en- 
ergies. It  is  the  background  upon  which  the  pano- 
rama of  creation  is  projected.  It  is  the  agent  of 
reaction,  as  the  counterpoise  to  action,  without  which 
equilibrium  and  the  perpetuity  of  movement  would 
be  impossible. 

The  theory  that  force  is  an  attribute  of  matter  is 
disproved  by  the  fact  of  inertia.  It  cannot  change 
its  state.  It  will  ultimately  be  shown,  I  believe,  that 
inertia  is  the  sole  attribute  otf  matter,  while  the  other 
properties  usually  ascribed  to  it  are  simply  secondary 
qualities  which  inertia  involves.  Force,  therefore,  is 
the  antithesis  of  matter,  not  simply  one  of  its  attri- 
butes. Will  is  the  single  attribute  of  force,  and  will 
is  self-determining, — not  motion,  but  the  antecedent 
of  motion,  and  the  antithesis  of  inertia. 

UA11  that  we  can  affirm  of  matter,"  says  the  learned 
Clerk  Maxwell,  uis  that  it  is  the  recipient  of  im- 
pulse and  of  energy."  And  yet  materialists,  and 
doubtless  the  majority  of  ordinary  men,  have  come  to 
think  from  their  long  familiarity  with  matter  that 
physical  forms  constitute  the  only  real,  that  matter 
is  more  permanent  and  substantial  than  spirit.  This 
is  a  fatal  mistake. 

This  system  of  reasoning,  on  the  part  of  material- 
ists, fails  to  convince  the  intellect  or  meet  the  noblest 
aspirations  of  the  human  soul.  Thinkers  ought  to 
understand,  so  it  seems  to  me,  that  all  laws,  prin- 
ciples, aspirations,  thoughts,  ideas,  and  unseen  forces 
are,  while  imponderable  and  invisible,  allied  to  the 
spiritual  realm  of  existence,  the  realm  of  the  real,  the 
perpetual,  the  permanent,  and  the  immortal ! 

Mortal  life  is  only  an  incident — a  tremendous  eddy 
in  the  cycling  stream  of  time.  We  are  the  dead; 
human  bodies  are  little  more  than  graves.     The  de- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        187 

parted,  the  invisible,  are  the  truly  living.  The 
apostle  of  old  denominated  the  body  the  "temple  of 
God;"  while  an  ancient  prophet,  writing  under  the 
divine  afflatus,  termed  the  soul  "the  candle  of  the 
Lord."  This  candle,  this  luminous  spark  of  divin- 
ity, incarnated  in  the  templed  organism,  manifests 
itself  through  the  cranial  organs,  and  shines  out 
through  the  features.  It  takes  cognizance  of  earthly 
things,  gathers  rich  experiences,  builds  up  and  per- 
fects the  spiritual  body,  and  awaiting  deliverance,  is 
finally  translated  in  the  resurrection  chariot  to  the 
world  of  spirits,  the  homes  of  the  angels,  the  many- 
mansioned  house  of  the  Father.* 

Battle  Creek,  Mich. 


James  H.  Hyslop,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Logic  and 
Ethics,  Columbia  University. 

IMMORTALITY  AND  PSYCHICAL 
RESEARCH 

(From  an  article  in  the  New  World.) 

It  will  be  impossible  in  the  space  of  this 
article  to  give  an  adequate  account  of  the  facts  in 


*Dr.  Peebles,  who  is  a  well-known  spiritualist,  believes 
that  the  souls  of  certain  peculiarly  organized  persons  at  times 
leave  their  bodies  and  traverse  the  spheres  of  infinity.  In  his 
book  "Immortality,"  he  cites  such  instances,  and  gives  also 
the  testimony  of  many  spirits  who  have  communicated  with 
mediums  or  psychics  in  this  life. 


1 88  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

this  investigation,  which  claims  scientific  evidence  for 
immortality.* 

It  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  criticize  any  abbrevi- 
ated account  of  the  case,  and  hence  I  must  leave  the 
interested  student  to  go  to  the  original  documents  for 
an  examination  of  the  evidence  himself ;  this  should 
be  done  with  extreme  care,  or  not  at  all.  The  only 
duty  that  I  can  perform  here  is  to  state  my  own  con- 
clusions after  ten  years'  study  and  skeptical  reserva- 
tions in  the  case,  and  it  is  my  purpose  still  to  maintain 
as  much  skeptical  reservation  as  the  circumstances 
will  allow. 

The  first  thing  to  remark  is  the  alternative  hypo- 
theses which  have  to  be  entertained  in  the  explanation 
of  the  phenomena  obtained  in  the  investigation  of  this 
one  case  of  alleged  mediumship  (Mrs.  Piper.) 
They  are  five:  fraud,  illusion,  suggestion,  telepathy, 
spiritism.  ...  I  shall  not  waste  time  or  space 
in  proving  that  there  is  no  fraud  involved.  For 
every  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  case 
and  the  precautions  observed  to  secure  acceptable  re- 
sults, the  question  of  conscious  fraud  is  thrown  out 
of  court,  and  it  is  regarded  as  a  waste  of  energy  to 
discuss  the  matter  with  any  one.  .  .  .  Nor  can 
I  take  time  to  prove  the  genuineness  of  the  trance. 
This  is  adequately  established  in  the  reports  of  the 
case,  and,  if  doubted,  can  easily  be  proved  or  dis- 
proved by  one  thousandth  part  of  the  time,  trouble, 
and  expense  that  the  Society  has  given  to  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  case.  Assuming  this  genuineness, 
as  I  do  here,  the  investigator  finds  that  there  is  abso- 
lutely no  resource  for  fraud  of  any  sort  except  that 


*Referring  to  the  history  of  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research,  of  which  that  portion  of  the  article  preceding 
these  extracts  treats. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        189 

of  unconscious  fraud.  But  he  cannot  even  enter 
upon  the  reports  without  discovering  that  it  accounts 
for  nothing  without  assuming  telepathy  in  combina- 
tion with  it,  and,  this  once  supposed,  the  whole  possi- 
bility of  the  supernormal  is  admitted,  and  there  is  no 
need  of  using  the  hypothesis  of  fraud,  except  as  a 
formal  method  of  limiting  the  actual  field  of  the 
supernormal.  After  finding  that  I  had  to  dismiss 
both  conscious  and  unconscious  fraud  from  my  judg- 
ment of  the  phenomena,  and  after  reading  the  reports 
with  the  utmost  care,  I  felt  that  possibly  the  evidence 
for  the  spiritistic  theory  might  still  be  largely  weak- 
ened by  suggestion  from  the  sitters,  and  possibly 
somewhat  by  illusions  of  interpretation  applied  to 
the  incidents.  I  was  convinced  that  telepathy  was 
necessary  to  explain  some  of  them,  even  if  suggestion 
did  account  for  a  part  of  the  record,  and  if  spiritism 
was  not  to  be  accepted.  My  supposition  was  based 
upon  a  misunderstanding  of  the  perfection  of  the 
record  itself,  as  the  early  reports  were  admittedly 
imperfect  and  open  to  qualification  from  suspicion  o>f 
this  sort.  Hence  I  arranged  for  sittings  myself, 
which  I  conducted  under  conditions  that  completely 
excluded  illusion  and  suggestion  on,  my  part  and 
fraud  on  the  part  of  the  medium.  I  cannot  detail 
the  conditions  here,  but  shall  do  so  in  my  report,  but 
they  admit  fraud  only  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Hodgson 
and  myself,  and  the  facts  obtained  in  the  experiments 
were  such  that  I  unhesitatingly  assert  that  I  shall 
have  to  bear  the  brunt  of  all  the  suspicion  on  that 
account.  For  myself,  then,  I  am  reduced  to  a  choice 
between  telepathy  and  the  spiritistic  theory  to  explain 
the  phenomena,  and,  for  the  present  at  least,  I  prefer 
the  spiritistic  view,  or,  perhaps,  more  respectably 
stated,  the  claim  that  the  immortality  of  the  soul  has 
come  within  the  sphere  of  legitimate  scientific  belief. 


190  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

{From  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Physical  Re- 
search, Vol.  xvi.,  Part  xli.,  Oct.,  igoi.) 
.  .  .  (P.  246.)  When  it  comes  to  collecting 
facts  or  statements  purporting  to  represent  a  tran- 
scendental world,  we  must  remember  that  there  are 
two  wholly  distinct  problems  involved  which  ought 
not  to  be  confused.  The  first  is  the  existence  of  such 
a  world,  and  the  second  is  the  conditions  that  charac- 
terize it.  What  will  "prove"  or  render  possible  or 
probable  the  first  will  or  may  leave  the  second  un- 
touched. Taken  in  the  special  form  of  spiritism  the 
two  problems  are  ( 1 )  the  existence  of  spirits,  and 
(2)  their  mode  of  life.  Unfortunately  it  seems  that 
the  majority  of  mankind,  scientific  and  unscientific 
alike,  have  such  a  morbid  interest  in  the  latter  question 
that  they  wholly  ignore  both  the  place  which  it  should 
have  in  the  truly  scientific  mind  and  the  necessary  in- 
solubility of  the  problem  in  any  such  terms  as  they 
have  been  accustomed  to  represent  their  knowledge. 
Our  chief  complaint  against  the  average  spiritualist 
is  that  he  assumes  to  know  and  describe  the  condi- 
tions of  a  life  for  which  we  have  no>  experience  or 
immediate  data  to  make  it  intelligible.  It  ill  be- 
comes the  scientific  man  to  put  himself  on  the  level  of 
the  people  that  he  effects  to  despise.  But  he  does 
so  when  he  asserts  or  assumes  that  we  must  know  the 
conditions  of  a  transcendental  life  before  we  can 
accept  it  as  a  fact.  All  our  intelligible  knowledge  is 
represented  by  some  form  of  sensory,  or  at  least 
terrestrial  experience.  We  cannot  suppose  any  sen- 
sory phenomena  in  a  discarnate  soul  with  its  loss  of 


*This  Part,  of  over  600  pages,  consists  entirely  of  Prof. 
Hyslop's  Report  on  Mrs.  Piper,  with  Addenda.  It  is  a 
remarkably  painstaking,  impartial  and  interesting  investiga- 
tion. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        191 

the  very  conditions  of  such,  though,  if  we  knew  more 
than  we  do,  we  might  find  other  means  of  getting 
impressions.  But  this  assumption  is  too  precarious 
to  build  our  hypothesis  upon  it.  Whatever  the  ex- 
periences of  a  discarnate  soul,  supposing  it  a  fact,  we 
have  no  means  in  the  media  of  our  scientific  know- 
ledge to  determine  how  we  shall  think  them.  It 
would  require  the  presence  of  a  spiritual  body  even 
to  suggest  anything  analogous  to  our  sensory  im- 
pressions. But  a  surviving  soul,  assuming  that  it 
has  any  consciousness  of  the  past,  could  very  well 
express  or  think  in  terms  of  its  terrestrial  life,  and  it 
would  have  to  do  so  if  there  were  any  possibility  of 
proving  this  survival.  Hence  the  problem  of  per- 
sonal identity  is  the  first  question  to1  be  settled. 

What  claims  to  be  a  spirit  must  be  made  to  prove 
its  veracity  by  proving  its  personal  identity,  and  it 
can  do  this  only  by  narrating  its  own  terrestrial  his- 
tory in  a  way  to  break  the  theory  of  telepathy.  The 
facts  also  must  be  verifiable.  But  when  it  has  estab- 
lished its  veracity,  it  does  not  follow  that  we  are  to 
accept  any  statements  regarding  transcendental  con- 
ditions of  life  as  intelligible.  Veracity  and  intelligi- 
bility are  not  convertible.  We  may  accept  the  ver- 
acity of  a  spirit  after  its  identity  has  been  proved, 
and  yet,  without  rejecting  the  truth  of  its  statements 
about  spirit  life,  refuse  to  treat  them  as  in  any  way 
important  or  intelligible  for  us.  Statements  about  a 
discarnate  life  are,  of  course,  worthless  as  evidence, 
because  they  are  unverifiable,  and  even  if  veracious 
are  in  addition  not  necessarily  intelligible.  It  is  thus 
strange  that  men  pretending  to  be  scientific  express 
their  willingness  to  be  converted  to1  spiritism,  if  we 
shall  only  tell  them  what  the  conditions  of  life  are  in 
which  a  disembodied  soul  lives. 

They  avow  their  readiness  to  accept  a  doctrine  on 


1 92  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

both  unverifiable  and  unintelligible  evidence.  I  for 
one  refuse  to  do  this.  I  have  no  interest  in  the  con- 
ditions of  such  existence  until  I  get  there,  unless  they 
can  be  made  intelligible  to  me.  I  refuse  to  be  drawn 
aside  from  the  only  rational  problem  of  science, 
which  is  personal  identity,  because  within  that  field 
the  facts,  being  reminiscences,  may  be  both  verifiable 
and  intelligible.  This  limitation  of  the  problem 
may  make  it  insoluble  in  the  estimation  of  some 
people.  So  be  it:  nevertheless,  I  admit  no  prob- 
lem as  prior  to  that  of  identity,  and  I  consider  any 
demand  for  unverifiable  data  and  statements  to  in- 
volve a  point  of  view  worthy  only  of  those  whose 
follies  and  fraud  have  made  it  all  but  impossible  to 
discuss  a  hereafter  with  patience  or  respect.  The 
man  who  sets  up  for  a  scientist  should  be  the  last  to 
sympathize  with  such  a  position,  and  should  know 
both  his  method  and  the  nature  of  the  problem  suf- 
ficiently to  escape  illusions  on  so*  fundamental  a 
question.  Spiritualism  ought  not  to*  have  a  rival  in 
the  follies  of  the  scientist  who  merely  shelters  himself 
under  the  shadow  of  a  great  authority  without  in- 
telligence, and  thus  converts  his  own  standard  into 
credulity. 

It  is  apparent  from  all  this  that  I  give  my  ad- 
hesion to  the  theory  that  there  is  a  future  life  and 
persistence  of  personal  identity,  that  I  am  willing 
to  make  it  provisional  upon  the  establishment, 
by  the  non-believer  in  the  supernormal  of  any  kind, 
of  sufficient  telepathy,  in  combination  with  the  other 
necessary  processes,  to  account  for  the  whole  amazing 
result.  All  other  questions  I  put  out  of  court  as 
not  relevant,  especially  as  there  is  not  one  sentence  in 
my  record  from  which  I  could  even  pretend  to  deduce 
a  conception  of  what  the  life  beyond  the  grave  is.  I 
have  kept  my  mind  steadily  and  only  on  the  question 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        193 

whether  some  theory  could  not  explain  away  the  facts 
rather  than  accept  spiritism.  But  I  think  that  every- 
one without  exception  would  admit  that,  superficially 
at  least,  the  phenomena  represent  a  good  case  for 
spiritism  as  a  rational  possibility.  The  fact  of  satis- 
fying the  criterion  for  personal  identity  can  hardly  be 
disputed  by  anyone  on  any  theory  whatever,  whether 
of  frauds,  telepathy  or  spiritism.  Hence,  after  ex- 
cluding fraud,  the  only  question  is  whether  it  is  more 
consistent  with  the  data  at  hand  to  believe  that  they 
can  be  better  accounted  for  by  telepathy  with  its 
necessary  adjuncts  than  by  the  survival  of  conscious- 
ness after  death. 

I  do  not  care  how  we  conceive  this  survival, 
whether  in  the  form  of  the  traditional  "spirit,"  or  in 
the  form  of  some  centre  of  force  either  with  or  with- 
out the  accompaniment  of  a  "spiritual  body,"  or 
again  in  the  form  of  a  continued  mode  of  the  Abso- 
lute. With  these  questions  I  have  nothing  to  do  as 
preliminary,  but  only  as  subsequent  to  the  determi- 
nation of  personal  identity.  I  am  satisfied  if  the 
evidence  forces  us  in  our  rational  moods  to  tolerate 
the  spiritistic  theory  as  rationally  possible  and 
respectable,  as  against  stretching  telepathy  and  its 
adjuncts  into  infinity  and  omniscience. 

New  York  City. 


J.  T.  Trowbridge,  A.  M.}  Author,  in  "My  Own 
Story." 
Fully  half  a  century  ago,  I  became  familiar  with 
the  phenbmena  of  spiritualism,  and  had  in  my  early 
and  late  investigations  of  them  some  quite  astound- 
ing experiences,  which  no  arguments  based  upon 
"jugglery,"  "hypnotism,"  "thought-transference," 
"sublimal  consciousness,"  or  anything  of  that  sort, 
under  whatever  guise,  could  ever  explain  away.     I 


i94  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

was  convinced  that,  under  all  the  frauds  and  foibles 
that  could  be  charged  against  mediums  and  their 
dupes,  there  were  living  truths, — that  man  has  spirit- 
discerning  powers,  and  that  those  who  have  embarked 
before  us  on  the  Unknown  may  send  back  to  us 
signals  more  or  less  intelligible  through  the  mists 
that  have  closed  in  upon  their  voyage.  I  found  in 
the  communications  so  much  that  was  confused  and 
misleading  that  I  gradually  ceased  to  consult  them 
after  I  had  become  fully  satisfied  as  to  their  source; 
but  the  faith,  thus  established,  has  never  faltered; 
and  to  it  I  have  owed,  especially  in  times  of  bereave- 
ment, many  consolations.  Even  though  the  identity 
of  the  voices  may  sometimes  rest  in  doubt,  much  yet 
remains.  The  assurance  remains,  not  new  indeed, 
but  ever  more  vitally  renewed,  that  the  soul  itself 
has  occult  faculties  that  are  rarely  developed  in  this 
state  of  existence,  but  which  presuppose  a  more  eth- 
ereal condition,  fitted  for  their  unfolding,  as  the  sub- 
merged bud  of  the  water-lily,  struggling  upward  from 
the  ooze,  and  groping  dimly  through  the  grosser  ele- 
ment, is  a  prophecy  of  the  light  and  air  in  which  it  is 
to  open  and  flower. 
Arlington,  Mass. 


Mr.  Henry  Wood,  author,  Ex-President  Metaphysi- 
cal Club  of  Boston,  in  "God's  Image  in  Man," 
and  "Studies  in  the  Thought  World." 

(From  "God's  Image  in  Man.") 

THE  UNSEEN  REALM 

.  Are  the  spiritual  bodies  of  our  friends 
and  neighbors — yea,  and  of  the  race — who  have 
passed  on,  all  about  and  among  us  continually  ?  Such 
a  conclusion  seems  probable  from  analogy,  science, 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        195 

revelation,  and  intuition.  It  is  far  more  reasonable 
to  believe  that  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration, 
Moses  and  Elias  were  disclosed  to  the  sharpened 
spiritual  perception  of  the  disciples,  than  that  they 
came  from  a  far-away  paradise.  When  Elisha 
prayed  that  his  servant's  eyes  might  be  opened,  uhe 
saw;  and,  behold,  the  mountain  was  full  of  horses 
and  chariots  of  fire  round  about  Elisha."  They  were 
already  there,  but  the  vision  was  conditioned  upon  the 
spiritual  perception  of  the  young  man. 

Our  notional  materialism  confers  substantiality 
upon  gold,  silver,  iron,  houses,  lands,  railroads;  but 
as  they  are  not  real  forces,  we  are  guilty  of  uncon- 
scious idolatry.  They  are  nothing  until  acted  on  by 
the  unseen ;  but  a  thought-wave,  idea,  or  doctrine  can 
transform  nations.  We  are  constantly  misled  by 
identifying  ourselves  with  our  sensuous  nature.  Men 
carelessly,  and  even  jocosely,  speak  of  those  who 
have  passed  on  as  ghosts,  shades,  phantoms,  spec- 
tres, and  apparitions.  But  much  more  exactly  such 
definitions  would  fit  the  visible  body,  which  with 
scientific  exactness  may  be  called  an  unsubstantial 
appearance.  Men  say,  we  do  not  want  abstractions; 
give  us  terra  firma.  Yet  but  for  the  subtle  force  of 
the  unseen,  the  earth  itself  would  disintegrate  and  dis- 
solve into  mere  vapor.  ...  In  the  spiritual 
domain  there  are  various  spheres  of  attainment  which 
the  Christ  denominated  as  umany  mansions."  The 
divine  forces  of  involution  which  have  eternally  rad- 
iated from  God  are  gathered,  individualized,  and 
evolved  with  increasingly  compact  forms  in  their 
upward  return  towards  the  Father's  House.  Divine 
involution  is  the  basis  and  inspiration  of  human* 
evolution.  If  the  life  principle  had  not  first  been 
involved  into  the  acorn,  it  could  not  be  evolved  into 
the  oak.     The  potential  "son*  of  God"  have  been 


196  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

upon  a  journey  into  a  far  country,  but  their  inherent 
heritage  only  becomes  manifest  during  their  return 
towards  the  Paternal  Mansion.  To  human  sense 
the  upward  course  is  a  narrow,  thorny  path,  but  to 
spiritual  discernment  it  is  the  King's  highway. 

Said  Sir  Edwin  Arnold:  "Where  does  nature 
show  signs  of  breaking  off  her  magic,  that  she  should 
stop  at  the  five  senses,  and  the  sixty  or  seventy  ele- 
ments? Nothing  but  ignorance  and  despondency 
forbids  that  the  senses,  so  etherialized  and  enhanced, 
and  so  fitly  adapted  to  fine  combinations  of  an 
advanced  entity,  would  discover  art  divinely  elevated, 
science  splendidly  expanding,  bygone  loves  and  sym- 
pathies explaining  and  obtaining  their  purpose,  activ- 
ities set  free  for  vaster  cosmic  service,  abandoned 
hopes  and  efforts  realized  in  rich  harvests  at  last, 
regrets  and  repentances  softened  by  the  discovery 
that  although  in  this  universe  nothing  can  be  for- 
given, everything  may  be  repaid  and  repaired.  To 
call  such  a  life  Heaven,  or  the  Hereafter,  is  a  tem- 
porary concession  to  the  illusions  of  speech  and 
thought.  It  would  rather  be  a  state,  a  plane  of  fac- 
ulties, to  expand  again  into  other  and  higher  states 
or  planes;  the  slowest  and  lowest  in  the  race  of  life 
coming  in  last,  but  each,  everywhere  finally  attain- 
mg. 

The  soul  during  its  long  process  of  spiritual  evolu- 
tion utilizes  for  a  short  time  its  bodily  instrument  as 
a  disciplinary  and  educational  agency.  But,  by  hom- 
age to  the  form  instead  of  the  substance,  man,  has 
bound  himself  by  unnumbered  limitations,  and  turned 
his  back  upon  his  princely  heritage.  He  has  loaded 
the  simple  and  natural  Christ-religion  with  superficial 
traditions,  and  is  struggling  under  dead  weights, 
which  he  has  placed  upon  his  own  shoulders.  If  we 
would  listen  intently  we  might  hear  the  divine  voice 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        197 

within  assuring  us  that  God  is  our  life;  that  spirit  is 
the  only  substantial  entity,  and  that  love  is  the  only 
law. 

In  conceiving  of  the  spiritual  world  we  are  too 
much  inclined  to  identify  it  with  a  future  life.  It  is 
there,  but  it  is  also  here.  It  is  that  rich,  divine  realm 
in  which  our  souls  live,  move,  and  nourish  them- 
selves, both  here  and  hereafter.  It  is  the  outflow  of 
the  superabundant  life  and  love  of  God  upon  which 
we  feed  and  grow.  All  nature  is  an  object-lesson 
showing  the  wisdom  and  beneficence  which  pulsate 
in  the  invisible  counterpart  behind  it.  Our  spiritual 
vision  must  be  sharpened  so  that  we  can  penetrate 
through  forms  and  veils  and  behold  the  warm  exub- 
erance beneath.  The  spiritual  faculty  within  us  is 
always  in  touch  with  God,  and  is  the  organ  through 
which  we  commune  with  spiritual  spheres.  The 
intellect  may  reason  about  God,  but  only  the  intuitive 
perception  can  see  and  feel  Him. 

We  may  not  suppose  that  of  necessity  one  gets 
deeper  into  the  spiritual  world  by  the  act  of  laying 
off  the  material  organism.  There  is  an  outer  and  an 
inner,  a  spiritual  and  unspiritual,  there,  as  well  as 
here.  True  spirituality  on  either  plane  is  only  gained 
by  earnest  aspiration.  It  is  often  thought  that  when 
the  body,  with  its  clogs  and  limitations,  is  laid  off, 
great  spiritual  progress  can  be  made  at  a  bound; 
but  orderly  development  can  only  be  gradual  in  any 
condition.  Form,  locality,  climate,  and  plane  have 
little  to  do  with  soul-progress,  which  is  only  made  by 
a  growing  illumination  in  its  divine  centre.  Life, 
love,  and  truth  must  be  earnestly  sought  for  their 
own  intrinsic  sakes.  The  earthly,  selfish,  and  grov- 
elling thought-currents  must  be  checked  and  over- 
come hereafter  as  well  as  in  the  present  embodi- 
ment.    ... 


198  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

The  exact  nature  of  the  future  unseen  universe  has 
not  been  disclosed.  Can  Revelation  and  spiritual  dis- 
cernment give  a  faint  hint  of  its  glories?  Paul 
declares  that  "Eye  hath  not  seen  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  the  things 
which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him." 
Saint  John,  uthe  divine,"  in  the  Apocalypse,  by  means 
of  symbolic  imagery,  paints  a  picture  of  its  splendors 
limited  only  by  the  power  of  human  language. 

Can  we,  through  the  telescope  of  spirit,  catch  a 
glimpse  of  a  pure  soul,  who  after  a  quick  and  uncon- 
scious transition  lands  upon  the  delectable  shore?  A 
new  but  real  universe  is  unveiled.  Gathered  to  wel- 
come the  new  initiate  are  the  dear  friends  and  neigh- 
bors who  already  are  citizens.  Hands  are  clasped, 
and  a  warm  unison  of  love  thrills  through  reunited 
souls.  Everything  which  has  been  lost  is  found. 
Parents  fold  long-absent  children  in  fond  embrace, 
and  brothers,  sisters,  and  dear  ones  are  restored  and 
welcomed.  The  newly  arrived  celestial  candidate  is 
taken  by  the  hand  and  introduced  to  grand  spiritual 
activities,  and  his  willing  powers  enlisted  in  unex- 
pected and  delightful  ministries  of  loving  service. 
Amazing  opportunities  for  spiritual  advancement 
open  before  him.  What  wonderful  visions!  What 
restoration  and  compensation!  What  a  succession 
of  far-reaching  vistas!  How  many  mysteries  ex- 
plained and  questions  satisfied!  What  a  blossom- 
ing of  new  beauty,  color,  and  fragrance,  of  which 
he  has  been  all  unaware !  How  many  new  spiritual 
senses  unfolded!  What  journeys  of  exploration, 
untrammelled  by  the  limitations  of  time  and  space! 
What  an  expansion  of  knowledge!  What  a  golden 
sunshine  of  love  revealed  to  the  enraptured  gaze  as 
rapidly  as  its  brightness  can  be  endured!  What 
grand  missionary  tours  to  planes  below  to*  carry  help, 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        199 

guidance,   and  instruction!     What  illimitable  cycles 
of  spiritual  progression  stretch  out  and  wind  upwards 
towards  the  Great  White  Throne! 
(From  "Studies  in  the  Thought  World.") 

A  CORRECTED  STANDPOINT  IN  PSYCH- 
ICAL RESEARCH 

.  The  real  man  (ego)  is  mind,  soul, 
spirit.  He  is  soul  and  has  a  body.  Nearly  all  will 
agree  to  this  proposition  in  the  abstract ;  but  so  soon 
as  they  begin  to  reason  in  any  direction,  they  uncon- 
sciously abandon  their  premises,  and  practically 
regard  themselves  as  material  beings.  With  daily 
consciousness  centred  exclusively  upon  the  sensuous 
and  objective,  it  becomes  almost  impossible,  from 
force  of  habit,  to  maintain  a  correct  standpoint  and 
perspective.  How  greatly  it  would  simplify  all 
psychological  research  to  squarely  hold  the  position, 
not  that  we  have  souls,  but  that  we  are  souls — yes, 
spirits — now,  as  much  as  we  ever  shall  be.  The 
physical  organism  is  no  part  of  us,  but  it  is  expres- 
sion made  visible — nothing  more  and  no  less.  To  be 
sure,  it  is  educational;  for  it  is  in  accordance  with 
law  that  soul  must  have  an  experience  in  matter.  But 
it  is  important  that  we  educate  our  thought  to  regard 
the  body  only  as  an  instrument  belonging  to  the  man, 
entirely  secondary  and  resultant. 

If  soul  be  only  a  function  or  exercise  of  body,  as 
conventional  "science"  and  materia  medica  have  prac- 
tically assumed,  then  immortality  is  illogical ;  for 
when  a  thing  perishes,  its  functions,  which  depend 
upon  it,  perish  also. 

Planting  our  feet  on  the  foundation — practical  as 
well  as  theoretical — that  man,  the  ego,  even  on  the 
present  plane,  is  soul,  and  soul  only,  many  things  are 


200  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

brought  near  and  made  distinct  that  have  been,  dim 
and  distant.  It  at  once  furnishes  a  broad  outlook 
from  a  standpoint  that  cannot  shift.  It  renders  super- 
fluous such  terms  as  "supernatural,"  and  even  "super- 
normal," and  enlarges  the  boundaries  of  the  natural 
and  normal  beyond  all  limitation.  It  renders  the 
human  sense  of  life  spiritual  rather  than  material. 
It  lifts  man  above  an  earthly  gravitation  that  is  bur- 
densome and  enslaving.  It  unfolds  a  consciousness 
in  him  that  he  is  a  "living  soul,"  and  not  merely 
an  animated  physical  organism.  It  discovers  him  as 
made  in  the  "image  of  God,"  because  a  spirit,  which, 
though  finited  in  its  range,  is  the  natural  offering  of 
the  Universal  Spirit.  It  makes  religion — not  dogma, 
which  is  quite  another  thing — not  only  spiritual,  but 
natural  and  scientific.  It  lifts  order,  law,  and  inter- 
relationship  from  their  material  limitations,  so  that 
the  whole  "supernatural"  realm  becomes  unified  and 
systematic  rather  than  chaotic  and  capricious.  It 
interprets  "death", as  only  the  cessation  of  a  false 
sense  of  life.  It  restores  to  man  (the  soul)  a  con- 
sciousness of  his  primal  independence  and  divine 
sonship.  It  lifts  him  from  the  animal  plane,  and 
bids  him  regard  his  body  as  his  temporary  and  useful 
servant,  instead  of  his  hard  and  tyrannical  master.  It 
interprets  pain  as  a  friendly  monitor  whose  real  pur- 
pose and  discipline  are  kindly,  rather  than  as  a  deadly 
antagonist.  It  discloses  the  divine  in  man  as  well  as 
the  real  man,  or,  in  other  words,  restores  him  to 
himself.  It  reconciles  and  brings  together  those  two 
traditional  antagonists,  Science  and  Religion,  which 
for  so  long  have  suspected  and  frowned  upon  each 
other.  It  opens  to  view  Truth  as  an  harmonious 
unit,  and  changes  general  discord  into  harmony,  even 
though  all  its  vibrations  may  not  yet  be  understood. 
In  its  last  analysis  it  does  away  with  evil,  per  se\  as 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        201 

an  entity,  for  while  admitting  it  as  an  apparent  and 
relative  condition,  it  finds  in  its  unripened  and  imper- 
fect stage  the  potency  and  promise  of  endless  progres- 
sion and  unfoldment. 
Cambridge,  Mass. 

Irving  Bacheller,  B.  S.,  M.  S.,  A.  M.,  Author,  in 
"Eben  Holden." 

"If  any  man  oughter  go  to  Heaven,  he  had,"  said 
Uncle  Eb,  as  he  drew  on  his  boots. 

"Think  he's  in.  Heaven  ?"     I  asked. 

"Haint  a  doubt  uv  it,"  said  he,  as  he  chewed  a 
moment,  preparing  for  expectoration. 

"What  kind  of  a  place  do  you  think  it  is?"  I 
asked. 

"Fer  one  thing,"  he  said,  deliberately,  "Nobody 
'11  die  there,  'less  he'd  ought  to;  don't  believe  there's 
goin'  t'  be  any  need  o'  swearin'  er  quarrelin'  there. 
To  my  way  o'  thinkin'  it'll  be  a  good  deal  like  Dave 
Brower's  farm — nice,  smooth  land  and  no  stun  on  it, 
an' hills  an' valleys  an' white  clover  a  plenty,  an' wheat, 
an'  corn  higher'n  a  man's  head.  No  bull  thistles,  no 
hard  winters,  no<  narrer  contracted  fools;  no  long 
faces,  an'  plenty  o'  work.  Folks  sayin'  'How  d'y 
do?'  'stid  o'  'good-by',  all  the  while — comin'  'stid 
o'  goin'.  There's  goin'  to  be  some  kind  o'  fun  there. 
I  ain'  no  idee  what  'tis.  Folks  like  it  an'  I  kind 
o'  believe  'at  when  God's  gin  a  thing  t'  everybody  he 
thinks  purty  middlin'  well  uv  it." 

"Anyhow,  it  seems  a  hard  thing  to  die,"  I  re- 
marked. 

"Seems  so,"  he  said  thoughtfully.  "Jes'  like 
ever'thing  else1 — them  'that  knows  much  about 
it  don'  have  a  great  deal  t'  say.  Looks  t'  me  like  this : 
a  cal'ate  a  man  hes  on  the  everidge  ten  things  his 
heart  is  sot  on — what  is  the  word  I  want — ?" 


202  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

"Treasures?"  I  suggested. 

"Thet's  it,"  said  he.  "Ev'ry  one  hes  about  ten 
treasures.  Some  hev  more — some  less.  Say  one's  his 
strength,  one's  his  plan,  the  rest  is  them  he  loves, 
an'  the  more  he  loves  the  better  'tis  fer  him.  Wall, 
they  begin  t'  go  one  by  one.  Some  die,  some  turn 
agin'  him.  Fin's  it  hard  t'  keep  his  allowance.  When 
he's  only  nine  he's  lost  eggzackly  one-tenth  of  his 
dread  o'  dyin'.  Bime  bye  he  counts  up — one — two 
— three — four — five — an'  that's  all  ther  is  left.  He 
figgers  it  up  careful.  His  strength  is  gone,  his 
plan's  a  failure,  mebbe,  an'  this  one's  dead  an'  thet 
one's  dead,  an'  t'other  one  better  be.  Then  it's  'bout 
half  ways  with  him.  If  he  lives  'till  the  ten  treas- 
ures is  all  gone,  God  gives  him  one  more — thet's 
death.  An'  he  can  swop  thet  off  an'  git  back  all  he's 
lost.  Then  he  begins  t  'think  it's  a  purty  dum  good 
thing,  after  all.  Purty  good  thing,  after  all,"  he 
repeated,  gaping  as  he  spoke. 

He  began  nodding  shortly,  and  soon  he  went  asleep 
in  his  chair." 

New  York  City. 


Daniel  S.  Martin,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Geol- 
ogy,   Presbyterian    College    for    Women,     in 
i(Christian  Evolutionism"  and  "Scientific  Con- 
ceptions  of  a  Spiritual  World."* 
(From  "Christian  Evolutionism.") 

Lastly,  as  the  crown  of  its  organic  pro- 
gress, man  appears  upon  the:  globe, — a  being  pre- 
senting a  singular  union  of  widely  separated  attri- 


*Papers  read  before  the  American  Institute  of  Christian 
Philosophy  in  1887  and  1890,  afterward  printed  in  "Chris- 
tian  Thought,"  the  organ  of  the  Society,  and  also  in  pamphlet 
form. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        203 

butes.  On  the  one  hand,  he  is  linked  to  his  predeces- 
sors by  a  unity  of  structure  that  compels  the  belief 
of  a  kindred  physical  origin.  On  the  other,  he  is 
possessed  of  additional  faculties  which  raise  him  to 
a  plane  of  existence  far  above  any  other  organic 
forms.  Here  again,  the  Christian  evolutionist  stands 
between  two  opposing  schools  of  thought,  and  holds 
the  only  view  that  can  harmonize  them, — though 
regarded  by  both  as  a  sort  of  intellectual  outcast.  He 
recognizes  in  man  a  twofold  character,  a  physical 
unity  with  the  organic  world,  and  a  moral  and  spir- 
itual nature  which  lifts  him  into  another  sphere  of 
being.  Man  stands  as  the  culmination  of  the  process 
of  organic  development, — toward  which  and  for 
which  all  that  process  has  gone  on  through  the  ages 
of  geologic  time,— and  also  as  the  first  representative 
of  a  higher  order  of  life,  kindred  with  the  very 
Author  of  the  universe  Himself.  In  the  develop- 
ment of  human  society  and  human  history,  we  again 
trace  the  same  workings  of  law  and  progress  as  before 
in  the  physical  and  the  organic  world,  though  modi- 
fied into  yet  greater  complexity  by  the  new  element 
of  free  and  self-determining  wills.  But  in  all  the 
course  of  humanity  upon  the  globe,  we  can  recognize 
the  Divine  purpose,  guiding  and  governing  the 
whole,  and  weaving  into  a  great  connected  scheme  the 
countless  secondary  agencies  of  man  and  of  nature. 

But  is  this  the  end  ?  Science  and  philosophy  have 
reached  their  limit,  and  have  no  more  to  tell  us.  Are 
we  then  to  suppose  that  the  Evolution  of  the  universe 
has  attained  its  highest  point?  For  answer,  I  appeal 
to  two  independent  sources, — analogy  and  revela- 
tion. 

Analogy  would  lead  us  to  the  suggestion  that  there 
may  be  as  much  above  us  as  below  us,  as  much  before 
us  as  behind.    That  there  should  be  classes  and  orders 


2o4  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

of  intelligent  beings  as  far  beyond  us  in  their  intellec- 
tual and  moral  powers,  as  we  are  beyond  the  ani- 
mals, would  be  a  perfectly  legitimate  inference  from 
the  facts  already  known.  That  there  may  lie  before 
ourselves  in  the  future  as  great  advances  as  we  have 
already  made  from  the  organic  germ,  would  be  only 
in  the  line  of  analogy.  The  objection  that  we  have 
no  sight  or  experience  of  anything  of  this  kind,  has 
no  place  here ;  since  no  animal  in  its  larval  state  can 
have  any  experience  of  its  coming  stage  of  advance- 
ment. If  now  we  turn  to  Revelation,  this  is  precisely 
what  we  find, — a  world  of  beings  higher  than  our- 
selves, unrecognized  by  our  limited  senses,  yet  around 
and  above  us  evermore, — u angels  and  archangels, 
thrones  and  dominions,  principalities  and  powers  in 
heavenly  places,' ' — speeding  through  the  universe, 
executing  the  Divine  government,  ministering  to  men 
in  this  life,  serving  and  rejoicing  forever.  For  our- 
selves, it  tells  us  that  such  a  life  is  before  us,  in  the 
coming  periods  of  our  development ;  and  that  all  the 
present  and  past  of  our  being  are  but  stages  of 
growth  and  preparation. 

Here  I  think  we  approach  a  point, — like  one  who 
emerges  from  the  forests  of  a  mountain-side,  and  sees 
opening  before  him  a  marvelous  prospect  of  beauty 
and  grandeur,  flooded  with  sunlight  and  stretching 
away  into  unknown  vistas  of  ever-widening  vision — 
where  we  begin  to  gain  some  conception  of  the  glory 
of  the  universe,  with  its  Divine  plan  and  order,  its 
systems  of  time-worlds  and  space-worlds,  its  endless 
reaches  of  power,  wisdom,  and  love.  UA11  things 
are  of  God," — one  grand,  united  cosmos,  physical, 
organic,  intellectual,  spiritual, — planned  by  Him, 
upheld  by  Him,  administered  by  Him  evermore, 
through  ten  thousand  forms  of  law  and  force  and 
development. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        205 

Walk  with  me  through  the  halls  of  a  geological 
museum,  and  study  the  successive  stages  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  life,  as  given  us  in  the  great  rock-written 
volume  of  the  world's  history, — nay,  may  I  not  say, 
the  newly  revealed  "tables  of  stone,"  graven  by  the 
hand  of  God  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  it  all  ?  What 
value,  in  fine,  has  it  for  me  or  my  fellow-men?  It  is 
curious,  interesting,  wonderful;  but  is  it  no  more? 
Has  it  no  message  for  the  soul  ?  I  hold  that  it  has, 
— a  great  and  glorious  message.  It  says  to  me,  "Be- 
hold here  the  designs  and  ways  of  God; — the  long 
preparation,  the  ever-unfolding  plan,  the  ever-con- 
tinuing purpose,  leading  up  to  man  in  his  present 
stage  of  advancement.  See  the  way  by  which  organic 
development  has  come  thus  far;  and  now,  turn  and 
look  forward.  From  the  past,  judge  the  future; 
and  with  scientific  analogy  on  one  side  and  the 
revealed  word  on  the  other,  conceive  of  the  higher 
developments,  the  loftier  powers,  the  nobler  forms 
of  organism  and  environment,  in  the  coming  stages 
of  the  Evolution  of  the  Divine  plan."  Such  is  its 
message.  All  that  long  strange  succession  of  past 
forms  of  life  becomes  luminous  with  such  a  thought, 
and  turns  from  an  obscure  and  problematical  record 
to  a  prophecy  of  joy  and  glory.  All  the  longings 
and  strivings  of  hopes  that  we  feel  within,  are  recog- 
nized as  the  stirrings  of  yet  undeveloped  powers  in  a 
larval  stage  of  being;  and  we  begin  to  understand 
more  clearly  what  is  meant  by  the  Scripture  hints  as 
to  the  groaning  creation  "waiting  for  the  manifesta- 
tion of  the  sons  of  God."  We  now  look  forward  to 
the  experience  of  death,  as  simply  the  form  in  which 
we  are  to  pass  into  the  next  and  higher  stage  of  our 
development,  and  enter  upon  a  new  environment. 

Of  the  glory  and  promise  of  this  restored  life  to 


206  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

come,  scientific  analogy,  as  before  remarked,  gives 
many  suggestive  hints  which  confirm  the  Scripture 
presentations.  A  condition  of  vastly  expanded  pow- 
ers, of  freedom  from  the  limitations  and  burdens 
which  hamper  us  in  the  present  stage,  of  capacities 
for  enjoyment  beyond  the  grasp  of  our  now  imper- 
fectly developed  faculties, — these  would  find  their 
natural  accompaniment  in  a  new  environment  of 
beauty  and  sublimity,  adapted  to  a  further  evolved 
humanity.  Thus  we  see  the  strict  naturalness  of  ail 
the  Scripture  intimations  of  a  heavenly  world  of  light 
and  glory,  of  tireless  activity  joined  with  eternal  rest, 
of  a  ukingdom  prepared  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world"  for  the  abode  of  redeemed  spirits  in  the  pres- 
ence and  communion  of  God. 

We  perceive,  in  the  light  of  these  views,  the  mean- 
ing of  Revelation  where  it  lays  such  stress  on  the  peril 
attaching  to  what  it  terms  uthe  world,"  as  the  mortal 
foe  of  God  and  our  higher  life.  Not  the  natural 
world  with  its  beauty,  not  the  social  world  with  its 
joys,  not  the  intellectual  and  aesthetic  world,  with 
their  pleasing  exercise  of  our  powers, — does  the 
Scripture  properly  mean  by  this  term ;  but  "the  spirit 
of  the  world,"  the  satisfaction  and  absorption  of  the 
soul  in  its  present  environment,  of  whatever  kind. 
"Be  not  conformed  to  this  world;" — how  the  familiar 
text  glows  with  new  meaning  to>  the  Christian  evo- 
lutionist! "Love  not  the  world,  neither  the  things 
that  are  in  the  world,  .  .  .  for  the  world  pass- 
eth  away,  and  the  fashion  of  it,  but  he  that  doeth  the 
will  of  God  abideth  forever." 

Here,  moreover,  we  find  the  solution  of  the  great 
problem  of  sorrow  and  pain.  On  the  one  hand,  a 
being  whose  higher  faculties  are  in  bondage  to  the 
lower,  and  who  is  developing  away  from  the  real 
destiny  and  purpose  of  his  being,  can  find  no  happi- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        207 

ness  and  no  peace,  here  or  hereafter.  The  difficulty 
is  inherent,  and  no  power  in  the  universe  can  alter 
the  results.  On  the  other  hand,  for  those  who  are 
saved  from  this  condition  by  Divine  grace,  a  differ- 
ent relation  appears.  Their  present  life  is  not  only  a 
period  of  preparation,  but  one  of  corrective  disci- 
pline, and  that  discipline  determined  by  Divine  wis- 
dom and  fatherly  love,  for  the  sake  of  their  future 
happiness.  Then,  indeed,  the  darkness  and  bitterness 
are  gone  from  the  ills  of  life.  Not  despair  but  hope, 
not  rebellion  but  humility,  are  now  known  to  be  the 
purpose,  and  found  to  be  the  result  of  sorrows,  trials, 
disappointments,  and  losses,  in  the  present  stage  of 
our  being.  Thus  they  become  bearable,  as  a  neces- 
sary part  of  our  training,  and  as  tending  to  dislodge 
the  soul  from  satisfaction  and  stagnation  in  its  lower 
environment,  and  to  urge  it  forward  to  higher  lines 
of  development. 


(From  Scientific  Conceptions  of  a  Spiritual 
World.") 
.  Why  have  I  dwelt  thus  at  length  on  these 
points,  which  really  seem  so  obvious,  if  not  so  com- 
monplace? Simply  because  I  wish  to  emphasize  the 
thought  that  runs  through  them  all, — to  wit,  that  we 
find  in  the  material  universe  a  rising  scale  of  grades 
or  modes  of  existence;  and  that  each  higher  one 
reveals  to  us  powers,  processes,  and  products  so  far 
beyond,  and  different  from,  those  known  in  the 
grades  below,  that  they  could  not  be  conceived  or 
predicted  from  anything  in  those  lower  realms  of 
being.  Moreover,  the  history  of  the  development 
of  our  globe,  as  given  by  geology,  shows  us  that  these 
successive  grades  or  modes  of  existence  have 
appeared  on  the  earth  in  an  order  of  time  correspond- 
ing to  their  order  of  rank;   and  that  each  in  turn  has 


208  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

brought  to  view  a  new  world  of  material  possibili- 
ties and  powers. 

Now  I  desire  to  project  this  thought  further,  and 
to  show  how  it  leads  us  onward  to  other  and  higher 
forms  and  capacities  of  existence.  The  Scripture  tells 
us  of  orders  of  beings  far  more  elevated  and 
advanced  than  our  own.  It  tells  us  of  a  future  state 
of  existence  for  ourselves, — not  merely  immortality 
of  the  soul,  but  resurrection  of  the  body  in  a  higher 
and  more  advanced  condition.  Nay,  more;  it  tells 
us  that  such  superhuman  beings  are  ever  around  us 
and  watching  us,  and  that  in  rare  cases  they  have 
manifested  themselves  within  the  range  of  our  phys- 
ical senses,  and  have  been  seen  and  conversed  with  by 
men.  Further,  still,  it  tells  us  of  the  fact  that  one 
Man  has  already  risen  from  the  dead,  and  has  walked 
and  talked  on  the  earth  in  this  advanced  form  of  the 
body, — appearing  and  disappearing  as  to  human 
sight,  and  finally  passing  out  of  view  in  the  atmos- 
phere, with  a  promise  to  return  one  day  in  like  man- 
ner as  He  went. 

Now  the  point  of  present  interest  is  this, — that 
all  which  is  thus  told  us,  instead  of  being  unnatural 
or  incredible,  falls  into  line  perfectly  with  the  known 
facts  up  to  our  present  state  of  advancement  and 
experience.  That  there  should  be  other  orders  of 
beings  more  highly  organized  than  ourselves;  that 
they  should  have  powers  and  faculties  that  we  can- 
"ot  understand  and  can  scarce  imagine;  that  there 
should  be  a  future  renewal  of  the  human  body  with 
capacities  far  beyond  those  that  we  now  possess ;  and 
that  such  a  uglorified  body"  has  in  one  great  instance 
already  walked  the  earth;  all  this  is  in  full  analogy 
with  scientific  facts  as  known  in  the  lower  realms  of 
our  experience.  It  presents  no  more  difficulty, — 
indeed  actually  less, — than  the  advance  from  inor- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        209 

ganic  to  organic  existence;  from  the  vegetable  to  the 
animal  kingdom;  from  the  animal  world  to  the 
world  of  civilized  society  and  human  arts  and  pro- 
gress. Say  we  not  truly  that  science  discloses  to  us 
processes  and  powers  at  work  in  the  universe  that  may 
well  be  expected  to  yield,  in  other  places  and  periods, 
results  beyond  the  reach  of  our  highest  existing  con- 
ceptions ? 

I  trust  that  the  three  main  points  which  I  have 
sought  to  emphasize  will  have  made  themselves 
clearly  apparent.  Science  is  not  materialistic  and 
earthly,  save  by  a  mere  perversion  of  its  methods  and 
scope ;    because : — 

I.  It  involves  and  rests  upon  a  body  of  concep- 
tions purely  of  the  mind  which  are  essential  to  any 
connection,  or  any  results,  of  observed  phenomena, 
and  thus  to  any  unity  and  any  progress  in  science  as 
a  whole. 

II.  It  shows  us  how  limited  is  the  range  of  our 
physical  senses,  and  how  the  only  condition  needed 
for  perceiving  whole  worlds  of  existence  around  us, 
now  all  unrevealed,  would  be  simply  an  extension  of 
our  present  powers  to  respond  to  vibrations  of  higher 
rates.  It  shows  us  that  this  statement  is  true  for  both 
hearing  and  vision,  and  that  hence  our  non-percep- 
tion is  no  ground  for  doubting  the  reality  of  the  spir- 
itual world. 

III.  Science  shows  us,  finally,  that  if  such  unseen 
and  unheard  realms  of  being  surround  us,  they  rep- 
resent advanced  forms  of  development,  which  must 
of  necessity  be  unintelligible  and  problematical  to  our 
powers  of  thought.  But  it  also  shows  that  this 
would  be  in  strict  analogy  with  the  past  history  of 
all  development, —  in  which  the  material  world  has 
taken  on  aspects,  and  been  filled  with  beings,  exces- 


210  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

sively  higher  in  grade,  of  which  no  hint  or  prediction 
or  understanding  could  be  gained  from  those  below. 

Such,  then,  is  what  I  mean  by  Scientific  Concep- 
tions of  the  Spiritual  World.  So  far  from  tending 
to  weaken  our  belief  in  the  Scriptures,  or  leading  us 
to  question  their  divine  inspiration,  does  not  science 
most  strikingly  confirm  and  illustrate  the  statements 
and  suggestions  of  revelation?  Does  it  not  help  us  to 
clearer  conceptions  of  what  we  term  the  spiritual 
world  and  spiritual  beings,  when  we  see  how  they 
range  themselves  in  line  with  the  world  of  our  pres- 
ent experience,  and  how  close  they  come  to  the  pos- 
sibility of  our  perception? 

But,  then  as  it  is,  we  cannot  and  we  may  not, 
attempt  to  lift  the  veil  that  bounds  our  present  sight 
and  sense.  For  the  time,  our  environment  is  adapted 
to  us,  and  we  to  it.  But  let  us  hold  fast  to  our 
belief  in  the  unseen;  until, — as  in  all  the  history  of 
science, — uour  faith  in  vision  end."  The  land  of 
light,  the  City  of  God,  the  home  of  the  blessed  and 
beloved, — are  no*  far-away  fancies  of  devout  enthu- 
siasts. They  are  nearer  to  us  than  we  are  wont  to 
conceive.  They  may  lie  round  about  us  from  day  to 
day,  and  we  may  pass  to  and  fro  amid  them,  all 
unconscious, —  even  as  the  birds  that  fly  over  halls  of 
science  and  legislation  are  unconscious  of  the  great 
surging  tide  of  intellectual  life  that  fills  the  thought 
and  activity  of  men,  in  the  very  buildings  where  they 
alight  and  twTitter  on  the  roof. 

Columbia,  S.  C. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        211 

Mr.  Charles  Brodie  Patterson,  Author  and  Metaphy- 
sician, Editor  Mind  and  Arena,  in  "Dominion 
and  Power"  and  "New  Thought  Essays" 

IMMORTALITY 

(From  "Dominion  and  Power.")  .  .  . 
There  is  proof  that  a  great  majority  of  the  early 
Christians  believed  in  an  immortality  which  was  in  no 
way  conditional  upon  the  body.  They  looked  at  the 
physical  form  as  being  fitted  for  the  needs  and 
requirements  of  this  earth,  but  they  had  been  taught 
that  in  the  Father's  house  were  many  mansions,  and 
that  in  the  laying  aside  of  the  fleshly  garments  they 
would  become  clothed  with  spiritual  garments ;  that, 
though  the  tabernacle  of  this  house  was  dissolved, 
they  had  a  building  not  made  with  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens. 

Remembering  that  Jesus  said  the  spirit  is  the  quick- 
ening power,  the  flesh  of  no  profit,  we  must  see  in  the 
resurrection  a  deeper  meaning  than  that  which  is 
purely  physical,  and  that  the  resurrection  is  above 
all  things  a  spiritual  resurrection.  That  is  what  Jesus 
meant  when  he  said,  "If  I  be  lifted  up  and  attain 
the  Christ  eternally,  I  will  draw  all  men  unto  me." 
Through  the  evolution  of  the  same  eternal  and 
unchanging  love  that  brings  the  spiritual  resurrection, 
shall  all  men  attain  to  it.  There  is  no  separation 
between  the  human  and  the  divine.  The  resurrection 
of  Jesus  was  a  spiritual  resurrection,  the  passing  from 
the  consciousness  of  the  partial  to  the  consciousness 
of  the  whole,  the  divine;  the  laying  aside  of  every- 
thing that  could  hamper  or  hold  the  soul  in  bond- 
age.    .     .     . 

Eventually,  it  may  be  found  that  the  thing  which 
at  one  time  seemed  likely  to  destroy  man's  belief  in 


212  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

immortality,  namely,  scientific  research  and  investiga- 
tion, will  become  the  great  factor  in  causing  the  minds 
of  people  to  return  to  a  belief  in  it,  or  something  more 
than  a  belief;  because  the  scientific  mind  of  the  pres- 
ent time  is  waking  to  the  fact  that  the  material  world 
is  not  all,  that  there  are  forces,  powers,  at  wrork  in 
the  universe  which  transcend  all  material  things. 

Conservation  of  force  and  the  indestructibility  of 
matter  tend  to  show  that  in  the  great  economy  of 
nature  nothing  is  ever  lost.  We  see  people  walking 
about  on  this  earth  endowed  with  animating  life  and 
physical  form,  and  we  assert  that  not  one  atom  in 
these  forms  can  cease  to  be,  nor  one  particle  of  energy 
be  lost.  We  are  conscious  of  an  intelligence  controlling 
and  directing  the  physical  organism  in  every  part,  and 
everything  leads  us  to  believe  that  it  is  in  all  ways 
superior  to  the  outer  form.  Scientifically,  we  are 
coming  to  know  that  this  intelligence  created,  or 
brought  into  existence  and  gave  being  to'  the  very 
form  which  it  now  controls. 

The  law  of  evolution  goes  to  prove  that  for  ages 
life  has  been  tending  from  lower  to  higher  stages — 
differentiation  taking  place  until  in  the  fulness  of 
time  man  appeared  on  the  earth.  At  any  stage  in 
evolution  we  shall  find  intelligence  displayed  in  the 
construction  of  form,  this  intelligence  ever  tending 
to  adapt  the  form  to  the  requirements  of  its  environ- 
ments. Is  it  logical,  is  it  scientific,  to  say  that  with 
the  passing  of  the  form  this  intelligence  ceases  to-  be, 
or  becomes  dissipated?  Of  course  some  may  retort 
that  as  the  physical  form  becomes  dissipated,  why  not 
the  intelligence  ?  But  for  that  matter  there  are  dissi- 
pation and  renewal  of  the  physical  form  taking  place 
all  through  life,  and  yet  greater  intelligence  is  con- 
stantly evolving,  and  what  takes  place  at  the  so-called 
death  is  only  dissipation  in  a  greater  degree.  Further- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        213 

more,  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  minds  of  peo- 
ple are  often  clear  and  active  when  the  life  of  the 
body  is  nearly  gone. 

The  people  who  would  have  us  believe  that  this  lit- 
tle span  of  life  is  the  beginning  and  end  of  all,  and 
that  the  physical  brain  is  the  mind  of  man,  often 
bring  up  such  illustrations  as  an  injury  to  the  brain, 
a  fracture  of  the  skull,  or  something  of  the  kind, 
interfering  with  mental  action ;  and  these  they  think 
tend  to  prove  conclusively  that  with  the  entire 
destruction  of  the  brain  comes  the  entire  destruction 
of  mind.  Again,  they  have  cited  the  circumstances 
where  the  brain  has  been  trepanned  and  there  has 
been  a  return  of  thought  and  reason.  This,  instead 
of  tending  to  prove  their  case,  in  reality  proves  the 
reverse.  It  shows  that  the  mind  requires  a  perfect 
instrument  through  which  to-  work,  and  when  that 
instrument  has  been  damaged  it  can  no  longer  func- 
tion in  a  proper  way;  but  with  a  return  to  normal 
conditions  it  again  resumes  its  natural  activities. 

.  Life  and  immortality  are  not  for  the  few, 
but  for  all;  and  this  little  earth-life  is  not  the  begin- 
ning nor  end  of  life's  destiny.  Through  the  countless 
ages  of  the  past  man  has  been  working  up  to  what 
he  is,  and  in  the  ages  to  come  he  will  grow  into  an 
ever-increasing  life.  The  thought  of  immortality  is 
inherent  in  each  fibre  of  man's  being,  and,  try  as  he 
may,  he  cannot  get  away  from  it.  To  the  wrong  doer, 
who  knows  that  every  wrong  act  brings  with  it  its 
own  reward,  and  that  the  seed  of  vicious  thought  will 
bring  a  harvest  of  pain  and  suffering,  the  outlook 
may  not  be  fraught  with  delightful  anticipations; 
but  that  suffering  will,  in  the  end,  prove  beneficial  in 
bringing  him  at  last  to  a  knowledge  of  his  real  duties 
to  God  and  man. 

Jesus,  the  Christ,  passed  through  the  same  trials  and 


2i4  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

temptations  that  we  do,  and  it  was  only  through  meet- 
ing those  trials  and  temptations  and  overcoming 
them  that  he  was  able  to  rise  above  the  law  of  sin 
and  death,  that  law  which  people  had  believed  in 
hundreds,  yea,  thousands  of  years.  He  passed  from 
under  its  dominion  and  came  under  the  dominion  of 
the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  which  frees  from  sin 
and  death. 

A  New  Testament  writer  says  that  it  is  the  action 
of  this  latter  law  that  all  must  come  under;  that  we 
are  all  sons  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ;  that 
Jesus  was  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept;  that 
we  all  sleep  in  the  earthy  man,  and  that  all  must 
awake  in  the  eternal  man;  that  Jesus  through  his  life 
and  teaching  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light, 
but  that  life  and  immortality  had  been  from  the  very 
foundation  of  things,  and  that  they  had  been  through- 
out eternity ;  that  in  the  Adam  or  earthy  man  we  all 
die  to  a  knowledge  of  our  true  relation  to  God,  so, 
when  we  awaken  in  the  Christ  spirit  that  is  in  our 
own  lives,  then  we  come  into  the  fulness  of  life 
and  understanding;  that  the  old  things  pass  away; 
that  we  no  longer  place  our  trust  in  any  form  or  on 
anything  external  to  ourselves,  and  that  life  and 
intelligence  are  external,  and  that  there  is  no  sepa- 
ration, either  in  this  world  or  in  any  other. 

.  There  is  no  thought  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
physical  body  in  the  real  Christian  doctrine  of  life. 
Jesus  and  His  disciples  never  taught  it.  This  body 
is  of  this  earth  and  it  will  never  go  further  than  this 
earth.  We  all  have  bodies  corresponding  to  where 
we  belong.  The  great  truth  is  that  the  spiritual  res- 
urrection and  immortality  are  hidden  in  God,  are  in 
the  thought  of  life  as  one,  and  that  life  is  everlasting; 
that  the  life  and  power  are  the  ever-present  indwell- 
ing God,  and  through  knowledge  of  His  presence  it  is 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        215 

given  us  to  shape  the  individual  life  in  such  a  way 
as  to  at  least  overcome,  to  rise  above,  the  law  of  sin 
and  death.  We  must  lay  all  stress  on  the  spiritual 
resurrection,  the  resurrection  of  knowledge  and  the 
life  eternal,  and  that  the  law  that  brings  one  soul 
into  its  spiritual  freedom  will  bring  all  souls;  that  as 
in  Adam  all  die  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made 
alive. 


(From  uNew  Thought  Essays.")  We  come  now 
to  the  question,  Can  we  know  and  realize  immortal- 
ity in  the  present?  This  brings  us  face  to  face  with 
another  question,  intimately  related  to*  it:  Can  we 
know  anything,  while  in  this  life,  of  the  life  that  lies 
beyond  this  plane  of  mortal  sense?  Not  long  ago, 
the  Right  Honorable  Arthur  J.  Balfour,  leader  of 
the  British  House  of  Commons  and  a  member  of  the 
Royal  Psychical  Research  Society,  declared  in  a  pub- 
lic lecture  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  whatever  that 
under  favorable  conditions  communication  could  be 
established  between  persons  in  this  life  and  those  that 
had  passed  to  another  plane.  The  greatest  living 
English  scientist,  Alfred  Russell  Wallace,  and  many 
others  of  like  eminence,  take  exactly  the  same  posi- 
tion. Thus  we  see  how  men  of  importance  and  influ- 
ence in  the  world  regard  the  matter. 

It  is  claimed  by  many  that  we  can  know  nothing 
concerning  any  plane  other  than  our  own  material 
one;  but  that  claim  is  based  largely  on  the  assump- 
tion that  because  they  have  not  proved  otherwise,  no 
one  else  has.  Usually,  people  that  assume  this  atti- 
tude give  but  little  evidence  of  spiritual  development; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  many  who  are  highly 
developed;,  spiritually,  declare  that  nothing  could 
shake  their  belief  in  the  realities  of  another  plane1  of 
existence.     Those  claiming  to  have  developed  cer- 


216  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

tain  soul  powers  say  that  they  not  only  see  but  con- 
verse with  the  departed.  Still  otheis  are  sometimes 
under  an  influence  that  is  apparently  foreign  to  them- 
selves, and  while  in  that  condition  talk  of  things  that 
it  is  not  possible  for  them  to  know  through  external 
means.  How  is  this  done?  Some  of  our  occult 
scientists  say  that  it  is  through  the  action  of  the  sub- 
conscious mind;  but  this  hypothesis  utterly  fails  to 
explain  many  occurrences  that  have  come  under  my 
own  observation. 

Many  of  the  world's  greatest  teachers  of  spiritual 
thought  have  made  statements  similar  to  the  follow- 
ing: "As  it  is  in  the  heavens,  so  is  it  on  the  earth." 
"As  it  is  in  the  highest,  so  is  it  in  the  lowest."  What 
do  they  mean  ?  Simply  this :  There  is  one  universal 
law  acting  in  and  through  all  things,  and,  if  we 
understand  the  operation  of  that  law  on  any  one  plane 
of  thought,  we  have  the  key  that  unlocks  the  secrets 
of  the  universe. 

How  are  spiritual  phenomena  that  come  to  us 
from  other  planes  of  thought  to  be  considered — dis- 
regarding, of  course,  the  opinions  of  those  who  are 
entirely  skeptical?  Many  fully  believe  in  "spirit- 
communications,"  but  with  opinions  greatly  at  vari- 
ance. Some  seem  to  have  an  idea  that  depar- 
ture from  its  physical  body  endows  the  soul 
with  correct  knowledge  of  all  things  spiritual, 
and  that,  no  matter  what  the  communica- 
tion may  be,  it  must  be  accepted  as  truthful.  Others 
are  never  so  happy  as  when  engaged  in  obtaining  cer- 
tain kinds  of  "physical  manifestation" — wrappings, 
table-tipping,  playing  on  banjos,  etc.  If  the  matter 
were  to  end  here,  we  might  well  say,  Deliver  us  from 
a  knowledge  of  such  things.  But  does  it  ?  Why  not 
apply  a  little  of  the  common  sense  we  use  in  other 
matters?     Why  not  "try  the  spirits,"  and  find  out 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        217 

if  they  are  of  God?  Why  not  follow  the  injunc- 
tion of  the  apostle? — "Beloved,  believe  not  every 
spirit."  Why  not  recognize  the  working  of  universal 
law  here,  as  well  as  in  purely  physical  phenomena? 

.  .  .  If  a  man  is  a  liar  or  an  ignoramus  in 
this  world,  his  passing  out  of  the  physical  form  will 
not  make  him  a  Washington  nor  an  Aristotle.  The 
law  of  spiritual  development  is  that  man  must  work 
from  within  his  soul  outward ;  and  growth  is  a  ques- 
tion, not  of  place  but  of  earnest  desire  on  the  part  of 
the  ego. 

Look  at  the  different  planes  of  thought  existing  in 
this  world  do  you  suppose  that  in  another  world  peo- 
ple will  be  equal  in  development?  Far  from  it;  the 
mere  discarding  of  the  body  will  produce  no  change 
of  soul.  .  .  .  Messages  that  come  from  highly- 
developed  souls  on  the  "other  side"  show  that  the 
moral  and  spiritual  natures  are  not  greatly  changed 
by  what  we  call  death.  People  that  go  out  of  this 
life  retaining  their  sense  desires  and  a  love  for  earthly 
pleasures  live  close  to  the  earth  plane.  Their  forms 
are  gross  and  non-luminous,  unlike  those  more  spirit- 
ually developed.  They  do  not  look  to  the  higher 
influences  of  their  own  plane  for  light,  but  rather 
to  the  people  on  earth  with  whom  they  have  more 
in  common.  Neither  can  the  spiritually  illuminated 
of  their  own  world  help  them  until  they  become 
awakened  by  the  aid  of  souls  on  this  plane,  because 
there  is  no  point  of  contact.  When  once  awakened, 
however,  they  may  be  acted  upon  from  both  planes 
of  thought.  In  the  light  of  this  we  can  see  why  the 
early  Christian  Church  prayed  for  the  souls  of  the 
departed,  and  why  one  of  the  greatest  Churches  of 
to-day  continues  to  do  so.  There>  is  no  "hell"  on  the 
other  shore  bounded  by  time  and  space,  but  there  is 
one  formed  out  of  the  conditions  of  untrue  thoughts; 


218  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

and  its  duration  is  extended  only  by  preferring  dark- 
ness to  light.  What  men  sow  they  must  reap,  here  or 
elsewhere. 

The  quality  and  condition  of  the  spiritual  body  are 
determined  by  the  spiritual  nature.  We  know  this 
to  be  true  on  this  plane ;  and  that  which  is  true  here 
must  hold  good  on  all  other  planes.  Again,  there  are 
thousands  of  people  in  the  slums  of  our  great  cities 
that  have  no  point  of  contact  with  the  spiritual- 
minded;  their  bodies  must  be  cared  for  and  their 
minds  quickened  before  there  can  be  that  spiritual 
awakening  which  can  bring  them  in  touch  with  the 
spiritually  developed,  who  would  be  willing  and  glad 
to  help  them  if  the  time  were  ripe.  On  earth  we  find 
conditions  analogous  to  those  said  to  exist  on  the 
"other  side." 

There  is,  as  we  know,  a  right  way  and  a  wrong 
way  to  do  everything.  Spiritual  scientists  believe 
that  when  they  are  in  accord  with  law  on  this  plane 
they  must  attain  true  results,  and  when  in  opposition 
they  obtain  false  results.  In  psychical  research,  there- 
fore, whatever  may  arise,  we  should  always  apply 
the  law.  Idle,  curious,  heedless  investigation  can 
bring  no  gain,  but  rather  harm.  One's  own  mental 
and  spiritual  condition  will  determine  the  class  of 
souls  one  calls  about  him  from  the  unseen  world. 
If  one  earnestly  strives  to  unfold  his  own  innate  spir- 
itual powers,  the  endeavor  will  aid  him  in  compre- 
hending all  the  mysteries  that  perplex  him.  When 
we  step  out  of  the  houses  of  clay  we  now  inhabit, 
those  that  we  shall  enter  next  will  be  beautiful  or 
otherwise  as  our  thoughts  have  been  good  and  true 
or  the  reverse.  We  may  select  a  mansion  that  is 
beautiful  if  we  will  to  do  the  Will  of  the  Father. 

New  York  City. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        219 

George  T.  Angell,  Founder  and  President  American 
Humane  Education  Society,  in  "Autobiograph- 
ical Sketches" 

I  have  been  asked  how  to  teach  immortality  to 
the  children  in  our  public  schools. 

Suppose  you  tell  them  that  the  greatest  scientist 
we  ever  had  on  this  continent,  Agassiz,  believed  not 
only  in  the  immortality  of  man,  but  also  in  some  form 
of  future  life  even  for  the  lower  intelligences;  that 
the  sacred  books  and  religious  beliefs  and  recorded 
spiritual  experiences  of  nearly  all  nations  and  ages 
teach  it;  and  that,  if  all  these  were  wanting,  the 
common  sense  of  mankind  would  teach  that  the 
Power  that  sustains  the  universe  would  not  permit 
the  holy  saint,  martyr,  mother,  to  only  share  with 
pirates  and  murderers  a  common  annihilation. 

Boston,  Mass. 


Alexander  Wilder,  M.  D.,  Physician  and  Author, 
President  New  York  School  of  Philosophy,  As- 
sociate Editor  Metaphysical  Magazine.  Ex- 
tracts from  a  paper  read  before  the  American 
Akademe. 

LIFE  ETERNAL 

In  the  sacred  books  of  the  Persians  is  the  account 
of  the  journey  of  the  pure  soul  from  this  world  and 
its  reception  by  the  holy  ones  in  the  eternal  regions. 
Before  setting  out,  it  holds  a  vigil  for  three  nights 
at  the  head  of  the  body  which  it  has  abandoned,  dur- 
ing which  period  it  experiences  as  much  bliss  as  all 
living  creatures  enjoy.  Upon  its  arrival  at  the 
Bridge  of  Judgment,  it  is  at  once  divested  of  the 
consciousness  and  other  qualities  of  mind  which  it 
had  derived  from  the  material  world.     Immediately 


220  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

there  appears  to  view  the  figure  of  a  maiden,  beau- 
tiful and  radiant  with  celestial  light,  powerful,  per- 
fectly developed  in  form,  noble  of  mien,  vigorous  like 
a  youth  of  fifteen,  fair  as  the  fairest  ones  on  the 
earth.  The  purified  one  in  transports  of  joy  and  won- 
der salutes  her  as  guardian.  She  replies  that  she  is 
the  soul's  immortal  life,  exalted  yet  higher  by  the 
newly-born's  resistance  to  evil  while  on  earth,  and 
guided  by  her  the  soul  enters  paradise. 

This  vision  of  beatitude,  this  concept  of  the  eter- 
nal life  is  attainable  by  all  who  rise  above  the  illu- 
sions of  sense,  which  like  clouds  and  exhalations 
from  the  ground,  shut  the  heavens  from  our  view. 
The  eternal  world  of  abiding  reality  is  not  afar  off 
from  any  one  of  us.  The  soul,  our  Psyche,  is  able, 
by  the  power  which  the  true  philosophy  has  revealed, 
to  strip  off  her  caterpillar-shell  and  unfold  her  wings, 
and  thenceforth  become  the  denizen  of  a  higher 
sphere.  In  this  way,  the  new  and  more  glorious 
existence  begins.  "I  am  immortal,"  says 

Fichte,  "so<  soon  as  I  form  the  purpose  to  obey  the 
law  of  the  spirit;    I  do  not  become  so." 

The  faith  in  immortality  is  our  noblest  posses- 
sion. It  is  rooted  in  the  core  of  our  being,  and  can 
never  be  taken  entirely  away  from  us.  It  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  afford  us  a  criterion  by  which  to 
judge  and  determine  what  is  right.  I  would  shudder 
at  the  wreck  which  that  individual  would  be,  mentally 
and  morally,  who  should  really  suppose  that  from 
the  moment  of  bodily  dissolution,  he  would  totally 
cease  to  live  and  be.  If  we  would  attain  to 

the  higher  wisdom,  it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to  dis- 
card the  limitations  of  superficial  and  empirical  knowl- 
edge. The  narrow  understanding  can  comprehend 
no  perception  that  exceeds  its  own  dimensions.  Some 
such  reason  as  this  seems  to  have  induced  many  to 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        221 

presume  that  life  is  purely  or  chiefly  corporeal,  and 
limited  by  bodily  sensibilities.  This  habit  of  reason- 
ing, doubtless,  instigated  the  conjecture  that  there 
can  be  no  soul  or  intellection,  except  as  the  brain  and 
corporeal  organism  exist  for  its  development  and 
maintenance.  We  may  not  concede  to  them  this  mag- 
nified importance.  They  exist  solely  from  the  life 
and  energy  which  pervade  them.  Even  the  pro- 
toplasm or  initial  organism  which  we  hear  so  much 
about,  is  such  by  virtue  of  its  inherent  vital  principle, 
and  even  then  it  is  not  of  uniform  character.  There 
is  a  protoplasm  for  every  kind  of  vegetable  produc- 
tion and  for  every  species  of  animal.  Even  though 
it  should  be  demonstrated,  therefore,  that  all  pro- 
toplasms had  like  chemicals  and  organic  constituents, 
and  that  we  perceive  no  form  of  life  till  we  have 
first  obtained  the  protoplasm,  nevertheless,  this  diver- 
sification of  kingdom,  race  and  species,  disposes  of 
the  whole  matter.  We  may  relegate  the  entire  series 
of  phenomena  to  the  back-ground.  The  principle, 
the  inherent  energy,  must  transcend  manifestations. 

Everything  that  exists  has  its  origin  from  a  cause 
above  and  anterior  to  it.  Eminent  savants 

have  assured  us  that  all  matter,  in  its  last  analysis, 
would  be  resolved  into  points  of  dynamic  force.  All 
the  interminable  series  of  material  existence  are  then 
so  many  products  of  force  under  the  direction  of  an 
omnific  will.  Force,  being  absolutely  without  dimen- 
sion, can  be  nothing  else  than  spiritual  substance ;  and 
what  are  termed  Properties  of  Matter  are  really  so 
many  manifestations  of  spirit.  Accordingly  when 
the  elements  of  our  corporeal  structures  shall  have 
been  dissolved,  which  once  performed  the  office  of 
tissue  and  brain,  thus  serving  as  the  vehicle  of  mind 
and  understanding,  it  does  not  follow  that  our  psychic 
nature  must  perish  with  them.    In  fact,  this  very  pn> 


222  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

cess  of  disintegration  is  constantly  going  on.  The 
particles  which  aforetime  made  up  our  bodies  and 
brains,  were  afterward  eliminated,  and  their  places 
taken  by  others;  the  vital  principle  which  had 
attracted  and  made  use  of  them,  surviving  their 
departure.  While  they  change  and  pass  away,  this 
abides  and  never  loses  its  identity.  It  thus  manifests 
itself  the  greater  as  well  as  older;  and  we  have  good 
reason  therefore  to  believe  that  it  will  continue  when 
all  the  corporeal  elements  have  parted  from  it.  As 
the  kernel  of  wheat  does  not  perish  when  its  chaffy 
envelope  bursts,  and  it  abandons  its  receptacle  upon 
the  stalk,  so  its  counterpart, — the  soul  and  personal- 
ity— does  not  cease  to  be,  when  it  has  withdrawn' 
from  the  body. 

In  one  of  the  Upanishads  it  is  related  that  a  father, 
whose  son  was  frivolous  and  skeptical,  commanded 
him  to  bring  a  fruit  of  the  sacred  fig  tree.  "Break 
it,"  said  the  father;  "what  do>  you  see?"  "Some 
very  small  seeds,"  replied  the  son.  "Break  one  of 
them ;  what  do  you  see  in  it?"  the  father  asked  again. 
"Nothing,"  answered  the  son.  "My  child,"  said  the 
father,  "where  you  see  nothing,  there  dwells  a  mighty 
banyan  tree!" 

A  reply  like  this  may  be  made  to  those  who  profess 
to  doubt  the  truth  of  immortality.  Perhaps  it  will  be 
difficult  to  prove  it  by  logic  and  mathematical  demon- 
stration, so  that  the  reasoning  shall  appear  conclu- 
sive. We  are  unable  to  cast  a  measuring-line  over 
the  infinite.  The  creations  of  the  understanding  must 
of  necessity  fall  short  of  compassing  the  faculty  of 
the  understanding  itself.  The  fact  of  such  inability, 
however,  does  not  warrant  disbelief.  The  child  in 
embryo  has  lungs,  but  does  not  breathe,  and 
unweaned  infants  cannot  rear  their  kind;  yet  in 
both  are  the  rudiments  of  the  powers  and  functions 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        223 

of  adult  life.  We,  too,  can  enlarge  the  scope  of  our 
mental  vision,  and  may  yet  develop  faculties  which 
we  do  not  now  suspect  to  exist.  We  are  not  excluded, 
therefore,  from  the  hope  of  a  more  perfect  knowing, 
nor  from  a  hearty  faith  in  the  Infinite  and  Eternal, 
and  in  our  own  immortality  as  participants  in  the 
Divine   nature. 

Goethe  has  aptly  remarked  that  one  who  thinks 
can  never  quite  believe  himself  likely  to  become  non- 
existent— that  he  will  ever  cease  to  think  and  live. 
Thus  spontaneously  does  every  human  being  cherish 
the  sentiment  of  an  unending  life.  We  are  conscious, 
during  the  later  periods  of  our  earthly  existence,  that 
our  higher  ideals  are  yet  unrealized.  The  conviction, 
the  prophecy,  the  moral  consciousness  hang  over  the 
mind  that  there  will  yet  be  a  field  and  opportunity  in 
which  to  accomplish  them.  That  was  a  true  as  well 
as  beautiful  saying  of  Charles  Fourier,  that  every 
desire  which  God  has  implanted  in  a  human  soul  is 
his  promise  of  its  fruition.  We  may  rest  content, 
therefore,  in  the  persuasion  that  the  scope  of  our 
understanding  embraces  only  ideas  which  we  can  yet 
realize. 

The  highest  evidence  of  immortality,  nevertheless, 
is  of  a  nature  too  exalted  and  arcane  to  be  uttered  in 
any  form  of  words.  It  is  a  knowledge  which  each 
may  possess  for  himself,  but  it  may  not  be  imparted. 
That  which  is  personal  and  subjective  can  hardly  be 
rendered  obvious  to  the  perception  of  another  indi- 
vidual. ...  It  has  been  sagaciously  affirmed 
that  one  must  love  before  he  can  know  that  the  object 
is  lovely.  By  a  kindred  analogy,  it  may  be  declared 
that  in  order  to  perceive  our  immortality,  we  must 
possess  it  first.  Our  own  interior  consciousness  or 
supra-consciousness  is  thus  an  abundant  and  sufficient 
assurance  of  the  fact.     This  illustration,   however, 


224  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

may  not  necessarily  be  extended  to  the  individual 
who  doubts  or  denies.  He  may  not  have  become 
sufficiently  matured  in  his  interior  perception  to  en- 
able such  cognition,  or  from  some  other  cause  his 
spiritual  faculties  may  be  dormant.  It  is  not  my 
province  to  judge  him  from  this.  .  .  .  Immor- 
tality has  its  origin  and  foundation  in  the  soul  itself. 
It  is  no  boon  extended  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  earth, 
but  by  its  inherent  nature,  is  beyond  the  sphere  of  the 
transitional  universe.  It  pertains  to  our  essential  be- 
ing in  the  eternal  region,  rather  than  toi  our  pheno- 
menal existence  in  Time.  We  do  not  receive  it, 
because  it  was  always  an  essential  of  our  spiritual 
nature.  By  the  knowing  of  this  we  perceive  4*d  are 
cognizant  of  the  infinite  Verity.  We  apprehend  our 
true  relations  as  having  our  citizenship  in  the  heavenly 
world.  By  this  knowledge  we  are  made  pure  and 
holy;  we  are  enlightened  and  led  to  live  and  act  as 
immortal  beings.  ...  It  is  but  a  step  further 
to  acknowledge  unqualifiedly  the  presence  and  agency 
of  invisible  beings.  Milton  assures  us  that  millions 
of  these  are  constantly  walking  the  earth.  We  may 
not  reasonably  doubt,  when  the  physical  world 
abounds  with  innumerable  races  and  genera  of  living 
beings,  that  the  invisible  region  is  no  less  densely 
peopled ;  nor  that  we  are  all  surrounded  by  spiritual 
entities,  bodied  and  unbodied,  that  are  capable  of 
transfusing  their  thoughts,  impulses  and  appetences 
into  us.  We  observe  something  like  this  in  our  men- 
tal operations.  What  we  denominate  reasoning  is  the 
conscious  endeavor  of  the  understanding  to*  trace  out 
facts,  their  relations  and  correspondences.  Beyond 
this  region  of  the  soul  there  is  that  of  the  intuitive 
intellect,  more  occult  and  apart  from  this  world.  It 
is  not  limited,  like  the  other,  to  matters  of  experience, 
but  is  manifestly  in  communication  with  beings  and 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        225 

intelligences  that  are  outside  of  the  acknowledged 
realms  of  physical  existence.  Such  intercourse  is  the 
eternal  world,  of  which  this  material  universe  is  but 
a  colony.  I  am  convinced  that  what  is  commonly 
recognized  as  insight,  intuition  and  inspiration,  is  this 
faculty  of  supraconscious  intelligence.  It  is  a  re- 
membering, the  reproducing  and  bringing  into  con- 
sciousness of  what  we  knew  and  possessed  before  we 
became  sojourners  in  the  region  of  limit  and  change.* 

It  belongs  to  that  sphere  of  being  to<  which  we  are 
now  in  a  manner  oblivious  and  alien.  There  can 
be  no>  mental  activity  without  its  aid,  any  more  than 
there  can  be  muscular  action  without  the  exercise  of 
the  will.     .     .     . 

Our  existence  in  the  material  universe  is  the  result 
of  causes  which  we  are  hardly  sufficient  to  compre^- 
hend.  It  may  have  been  for  the  object  of  perfecting 
our  individuality,  and  so  constituting  an  essential 
means  to  establish  our  selfhood  in  a  more  complete 
identity.  We  may  not  doubt  that  it  is  necessary  to 
us,  and  has  its  uses,  which  we  may  not  safely  forego. 
We  should  also  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  the  occupying 
of  a  certain  sphere  of  being,  rather  than  the  mode  of 
dwelling  in  it.  We  are  really  in  it  before  our  birth, 
or  even  our  conception,  and  do  not  leave  it  by  the 
dissolving  of  the  body.  That  we  seem  to  forsake  it 
through  this  event  is  not  enough ;  the  condition  which 
allied  us  to  material  nature  must  also*  be  exceeded. 
Otherwise,  like  a  weed  which  has  been  cut  off  by  the 
hoe  in  one  place,  we  will  be  likely  to  issue  forth  again 
in  another.     ...     It  may  seem  to  be  a  matter  of 


*The  compiler  would  like  to  see  this  thought  worked  out 
with  an  explanation  of  the  fact  that  women,  far  more  than 
men,  possess  the  gifts  of  insight  and  intuition. 


226  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

wonderment  to  many  that  if  we  have  our  origin  in 
the  eternal  world,  we  appear,  nevertheless,  to  have 
no  distinct  or  positive  memory  of  that  fact.  Whether 
we  ever  existed  among  men  on  earth,  we  believe 
rather  than  know  for  certainty.  This  does  not  prove 
anything  adverse.  It  has  been  already  remarked 
that  the  soul,  upon  entering  the  realm  of  conditioned 
existence,  becomes  as  though  asleep,  unconscious  of 
the  celestial  world,  but  dreaming,  so  to  speak,  of 
scenes  in  the  material  universe.  .  .  .  Although 
the  souls  which  have  been  prisoned  in  this  world  of 
sense  have  ceased  to  know  about  the  higher  life,  and 
so  are  as  though  dead,  yet  this  exile  and  death  do  not 
constitute  a  total  separation  from  the  heavenly  world. 
They  have  some  recollection  of  their  former  state  of 
bliss,  and  yearn  for  a  higher  and  nobler  form  of  life. 
The  interior  spirit  continues  to  live  from  above.  It 
is  no  parentless  evolution  of  physical  nature,  but  a 
projection  or  outcome  from  the  eternal  region,  Cor- 
ruption is  not  an  heir  to  incorruption,  and  that  prin- 
ciple of  our  being  which  rises  in  glory,  a  spiritual 
essence,  was  first  sown  before  it  could  experience  any 
evolution.  It  was  always  immortal,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  sensuous  nature.  The  spiritual  essence, 
the  inward  man  that  delights  in  the  law  of  God,  is 
the  fountain  of  our  life,  and  confers  upon  the 
corporeal  structure  all  its  significance.  We  are  there- 
fore immortal,  imperishable  and  eternal,  without  be- 
coming so.  The  supersensuaus  world  is  not  a  fu- 
ture state,  in  any  essential  sense  of  the  term,  but  is 
now  present  and  about  every  one  of  us.  Our  life 
in  that  sphere  of  being  is  by  no  means  incompatible 
with  living  here  on  the  earth.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  lay  the  body  aside  in  order  to  become  free  from 
the  contamination  of  material  existence.  The  soul 
may  again  turn  toward  its  celestial  source,  contem- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        227 

plate  it,  and  be  at  one  with  it,  and  so  become  spiritual 
and  divine  as  partaking  of  Deity. 

The  life  which  we  live  as  inhabitants  of  the  eternal 
world  is  in  no  sense  a  continuance  of  the  life  which 
we  live  upon  the  earth.  It  is  not  a  form  or  mode  of 
existence,  but  a  quality  of  being.  It  has  no  part  in 
any  action  which  is  inspired  by  the  consideration!  of  a 
result.  It  consists  solely  of  the  moral  essentials, 
love,  virtue  and  goodness.  It  knows  no  going  and 
coming  as  in  a  region  of  space;  there  are  no  words 
for  divisible  conditions  in  the  language  of  the  gods. 
We  have  no  occasion  to>  search  for  any  one  in  the 
heavenly  world.  We  are  in  and  with  those  whom 
we  love,  and  are  permeated  by  them  through  all  our 
being.  We  cognize  rather  than  recognize  them. 
There  is  no  space  or  limit  to  the  human  mind,  and 
hence  our  personality  possesses  indefinite  extension 
over  the  world  of  spirit.  The  gladness  of  thought, 
the  communion  of  love,  the  beatitude  of  service,  the 
ecstasy  of  worship,  the  contemplation  of  the  divine, 
make  up  the  life  there;  as  they  are  felt  and  known 
here  to  be  the  highest  of  our  employments. 

Newark,  N.  J. 


John  Ferguson  Weir,  A.  M.,  Sculptor,  Director  and 
Professor  of  Painting  and  Design,  Yale  School 
of  Fine  Arts,  in  "Human  Destiny  in  the  Light 
of  Revelation!' 

"WE  SHALL  BE  LIKE  HIM" 
I 

Apart  from  the  revelation  of  human  destiny  in 
Jesus  Christ,  man's  conception  of  his  ultimate  future 
cannot  rise  above  the  earthly  experience  or  its  analo- 


228  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

gies.  The  knowledge  of  that  which  is  "hid  with 
Christ  in  God"  is  revealed  to  the  spiritual  by  the 
spirit.  In  the  light  of  Revelation  that  earthly  life 
of  man  of  which  Nature  is  the  mould  and  Science  the 
interpreter,  is  discerned  to  be  but  a  span  on  an  end- 
less path  of  progress  which  passes  through  the  heav- 
ens and  mounts  to-  the  unveiled  presence  of  God, 
where  man  is  affirmed  to  be  void  of  all  imperfection 
even  when  judged  by  a  divine  standard. 

Discerning  in  Christ  the  overwhelming  greatness 
of  human  destiny,  St.  John  exclaims,  "Behold,  what 
manner  of  love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us, 
that  we  should  be  called  the  sons  of  God."  Incap- 
able as  the  human  mind  is,  in  the  earthly  life,  for 
apprehending  the  full  significance  of  the  revelation, 
the  apostle  adds,  "It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we 
shall  be;  but  we  know  that,  when  he  shall  appear,  we 
shall  be  like  him;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is.  And 
every  man,  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purifieth  him- 
self, even  as  he  is  pure."  So*  great,  indeed,  is  the 
variance  between  this  present  stage  of  life  and  that 
ultimate  heavenly  state  of  perfect  man  as  revealed  in 
Jesus,  that  the  mind  of  this  world  finds  it  difficult  to 
reconcile  the  two  as  constituting  the  beginning  and 
the  ending  of  one  continuous  path  of  human  progress. 

II 

It  may  be  inferred,  in  the  light  of  Revelation,  that 
human  destiny  will  find  its  fulfillment  in  the  form 
of  an,  infinitely  diversified  "heavenly  host"  of  per- 
fected human  souls,  glorified  by  the  indwelling  pres- 
ence of  God.  For  as  the  forming  experience  has 
been  in  the  creation  of  each  separate  soul  from  its 
initial  earthly  stage  to  that  perfected  heavenly  con- 
summation in  "the  kingdom  of  the  Father" — as  re- 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        229 

vealed  in  Christ — so  will  its  individuality  be  marked 
in  that  celestial  state  as  in  the  earthly  life,  revealing 
the  inexhaustible  fullness  of  God's  love  and  the  infini- 
tude of  his  creative  power.  The  apostle  Paul  likens 
this  individuality  of  perfected  human  souls  to  the 
distinctions  in  the  heavenly  bodies,  even  "as  one  star 
differeth  from  another  star  in  glory ;"  and  Jesus  says 
of  the  heavenly  consummation,  uThen  shall  the  right- 
eous shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their 
Father." 

Ill 

Not  through  speculative  conjecture  was  this  knowl- 
edge of  human  destiny  acquired  by  man,  but  by  a 
revelation  of  the  truth  in  Jesus  Christ,  who  said,  "To 
this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into 
the  world;  that  I  should  bear  witness  unto  the  truth." 
And  St.  John  says,  "The  life  was  manifested,  and  we 
have  seen,  and  bear  witness,  and  declare  unto  you 
that  eternal  life,  which  was  with  the  Father,  and  was 
manifested  unto  us.  That  which  we  have  seen  and 
heard  declare  we  unto  you,  that  ye:  also  may  have 
fellowship  with  us  and  truly  our  fellowship  is  with 
the  Father,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  And 
these  things  we  write  unto  you,  that  your  joy  may  be 

IV 

The  advanced  thought  of  the  time  is  now  largely 
occupied  with  questions  concerning  man's  origin  and 
destiny,  studied  almost  exclusively  in  the  light  of 
Nature.  In  marked  contrast  with  the  acquisitions 
of  empirical  science  or  of  speculative  philosophy 
stands  the  revelation  of  human  destiny  in  Jesus  Christ, 


23o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

He  who  said,  "These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you, 
that  my  joy  may  be  in  you,  and  that  your  joy  may  be 
full,"  implies  therein  that  he  is  himself  a  manifesta- 
tion of  uthe  way  and  the  truth  and  the  life"  in  all  that 
concerns  human  destiny.  Can  it  be  doubted  then 
that  his  "good  tidings,"  in  their  affirmative  form,  are 
a  means  of  implanting  in  the  human  heart,  through 
love  and  gratitude  to  God,  a  nobler  motive  and  a 
stronger  impulse  for  hastening  the  divine  consumma- 
tion of  human  destiny  than  any  merely  repressive 
means  could  effect  through  moral  restraint  alone? 
St.  Paul  says,  "All  the  promises  of  God  in  him  are 
yea" — that  is,  affirmations  of  truth — "and  in  him 
Amen,  unto  the  glory  of  God."  Christ  holds  up 
before  the  mind  and  heart  of  man  that  which  appeals 
to  the  nobler  part  of  human  nature,  that  which  lifts 
man  above  the  earth  and  transfigures  the  meanest 
things  of  the  present,  when  he  says,  "Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 
New  Haven,  Conn. 


William  T.  Harris,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education,  Conductor 
Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy. 

IMMORTALITY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL* 

I.  Introduction.  Our  argument  for  immortality 
will  be  based  chiefly  on  psychology.  The  proofs  on 
which  most  men  rely  for  their  conviction  that  they 


*Dr.  Harris's  Pamphlet — reprinted  by  Appleton  &  Co., 
New  York,  and  Triibner  &  Co.,  London,  in  1885,  from  the 
Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy — contains  the  following 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        231 

will  continue  their  individual  existence  after  death 
we  therefore  pass  over.  The  proofs  that  we  omit 
from  our  discussion  are: 

a.  The  return  to  life  of  those  who*  have  died — a 
resurrection  in  the  body — notably  the  example  which 
the  Christian  Church  teaches  as  the  basis  of  its  faith 
and  as  the  symbol  of  the  resurrection  of  the  individ- 
ual man. 

b.  The  physical  manifestation  of  individuality 
after  death  by  the  exertion  of  power  to  control  mat- 
ter, or  to  materialize  in  temporary  bodies  as  in  cases 
of  reported  modern  and  ancient  spiritualism. 

c.  General  belief  in  the  existence  of  the  soul  after 
death,  and  the  probability  that  such  general  beliefs 
of  mankind  are  well  founded. 

d.  General  desire  of  man  to  live  forever,  and  his 
horror  at  annihilation;  probability  that  a  desire  im- 
parted to  his  nature  has  a  reality  correspondent  to  it. 

e.  The  infinite  perfectibility  of  the  human  mind ; 
its  full  capacity  never  realized  in  this  life;  each  new 
growth  in  knowledge  or  insight,  or  power  of  will,  or 
in  love  for  the  race,  being  always  a  means  of  greater 
growth  in  the  same  and  other  directions,  contrary  to 
the  course  of  nature,  or  to  the  divine  character  to 
endow  a  being  with  capacities  never  to  be  developed. 


divisions,  only  four  of  which  could  be  used  in  the  limited 
space  of  this  volume:  I.  Introduction.  II.  Immortality 
of  the  Species.  III.  Agnosticism.  IV.  Conceivability  of 
the  Infinite.  V.  Empirical  Proofs  of  Immortality.  VI. 
Types  of  Individuality.  VII.  The  Individuality  of  Plants 
and  Animals.  VIII.  Human  Individuality.  IX.  Human 
Individuality  Immortal.  X.  What  Faculties  Survive  Death? 
XL  Ethical  Culture  Presupposes  Immortality.  XII.  A 
Personal  God  Presupposed  by  Immortality. 


232  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

/.  A  special  phase  of  proof  that  belongs  to  the 
foregoing  is,  since  Kant  and  Fichte,  the  favorite 
ground  for  the  philosophic  doctrine  of  immortality. 
The  moral  proof  (or  the  "proof  of  the  practical 
reason")  asserts  that,  according  to  Kant,  "a  holy  will 
can  be  realized  only  in  the  thinking  of  an  infinite  pro- 
gress, which  is  possible  only  under  the  presupposition 
of  an  infinitely  continuing  existence  and  personality 
of  the  same  rational  being."     .... 

g.  Besides  these  there  is  the  proof  from  the  stand- 
point of  Evolution. 

IX.  Human  Individuality  Immortal.  Why  will 
one  make  individual  immortality  to  begin  with  the 
perception  of  universals  and  of  self-identity  rather 
than  with  individual  reaction  in  the  plant,  or  in  that 
of  self- feeling  in  the  animal;  or,  still  more,  with  that 
of  free  self-activity  in  recollection? 

Undoubtedly  there  is  individuality  wherever  there 
is  reaction,  but  mere  reaction  is  not  sufficient  to  consti- 
tute personal  identity.  The  activity  in  reaction  arises 
on  account  of  the  activity  of  another  being,  and  hence 
is  not  entirely  of  itself  in  the  case  of  the  plant  or  the 
nutritive  form  of  life,  or  in  that  of  the  mere  animal 
or  the  feeling  and  locomotive  being.  Were  such  in- 
dividuality to  be  imperishable  it  would  be  uncon- 
scious imperishability  and  devoid  of  memory  that 
recognizes  its  own  being  in  the  present  and  in  the 
past.  Mere  recollection  is  not  the  recognition  of  the 
being  of  the  self.  A  self  must  be  universal,  and  can 
in  no  wise  be  a  mere  particular  thing  or  act  such  as 
can  be  recollected.  The  self  is  the  principle  of  the 
process  of  reaction  against  the  environment  and  of 
the  activity  of  reproduction  and  synthesis. 

The  individual,  therefore,  is  not  only  a  self — a 
universal — but  also  an  entire  sphere  of  particularity. 
The  self  can  generate  by  the  reproductive  activity  all 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        233 

that  it  has  seen  and  heard,  all  that  it  has  experienced 
— reproducing  it  as  often  as  it  pleases  and  entirely 
free  from  the  presence  of  the  objects  perceived,  and  it 
can  generate  from  itself  the  ideas  of  the  general 
processes  in  which  originated  the  special  facts  of  sense 
perception.  Hence  its  particulars  are  also  general. 
Such  a  stage  we  call  Memory,  in  the  special  and 
higher  sense  of  the  word — not  the  memory  that  recol- 
lects, but  the  memory  that  recalls  by  the  aid  of 
universal  ideas.  These  general  ideas  are  mnemonic 
aids — pigeon  holes,  as  it  were,  in  the  mind — whereby 
the  soul  conquers  the  endless  multiplicity  of  details 
in  the  world.  It  refers  each  to  its  species  and  saves 
the  species  under  a  name — then  is  able  to  recall  by 
the  name  a  vast  number  of  special  instances. 

Language  is  the  sign  by  which  we  can  recognize 
the  arrival  of  the  soul  at  this  stage  of  development 
into  complete  self-activity.  Hence  language  is  the 
criterion  of  immortal  individuality.  In  order  to  use 
language,  it  must  be  able  not  only  to  act  for  itself, 
but  to  act  wholly  upon  itself.  It  must  not  only  per- 
ceive things  by  the  senses,  but  accompany  its  perceiv- 
ing by  an  inner  perception  of  the  act  of  perceiving 
(and  thus  be  its  own  environment).  This  percep- 
tion of  the  act  and  process  of  perceiving  is  the  recog- 
nition of  classes,  species,  and  genera — the  universal 
processes  underlying  the  existence  of  the  particular. 

Language  in  this  sense  involves  conventional  signs, 
and  is  not  an  immediate  expression  of  feeling  like  the 
cries  of  animals.  The  immediate  expression  of  feel- 
ing (which  is  only  a  reaction)  does  not  become  lan- 
guage, even  when  it  accompanies  recollection  or  the 
free  reproduction — nor  until  it  accompanies  memory 
or  the  seeing  of  the  particular  in  the  general.  When 
it  can  be  shown  that  a  species  of  animals  use  con- 
ventional signs  in  communication  with  each  other,  we 


234  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

shall  be  able  to  infer  their  immortality,  because  we 
shall  have  evidence  of  their  freedom  from  sense-per- 
ception and  environment  sufficient  to>  create  for  them- 
selves their  own  occasion  for  activity.  They  would 
then,  be  shown  to  react  not  merely  against  their  en- 
vironment, but  against  their  own,  action — hence  they 
would  involve  both  action  and  reaction,  self  and 
environment.  They  would,  in  that  case,  have 
selves,  and  their  selves  exist  for  themselves,  and  hence 
they  would  have  self-identity.  Take  away  self-iden- 
tity, and  still  there  may  be  persistence  of  self-activity, 
but  it  is  only  generic — that  of  the  species  and  not  of 
the  individual.  The  species  lives,  the  individual  dies 
in  such  cases. 

X.  What  Faculties  Survive  Death.  Having 
found  the  criterion  of  immortality,  let  us  look  at  some 
of  the  ideas  and  capacities  which  come  with  its  en- 
dowment. The  ascent  above  sense-perception  and 
recollection  indicates  to  us  the  subordinate  place  of 
those  faculties,  and  also  their  moribund  character. 
As  Aristotle  hinted,  in  his  profound  treatise  on  the 
Soul,  these  lower  faculties  are  not  immortal  in  their 
nature  (although  they  will  long  outlast  this  earthly 
life). 

In  thinking  of  such  faculties  in  the  lives  of  great 
men  of  science — like  Agassiz,  Cuvier,  Lyell,  von 
Humboldt,  Darwin  and  Goethe — we  see  what  this 
means.  It  is  the  first  and  crudest  stage  of  mental 
culture  that  depends  chiefly  on  sense-perception,  and 
recollection.  After  the  general  has  been  discovered, 
the  mind  uses  it  more  and  more,  and  the  information 
of  the  senses  becomes  a  smaller  and  smaller  part  of 
the  knowledge.  Agassiz  in  a  single  scale  saw  the 
whole  fish — so  that  the  scale  was  all  that  was  re- 
quired to  suggest  the  whole.  Lyell  could  see  the 
whole  history  of  its  origin  in  a  pebble,  Cuvier  could 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN         235 

see  the  entire  animal-skeleton  in  one  of  its  bones. 
The  Memory  ,  which  holds  types,  processes,  and  uni- 
versal, the  condensed  form  of  all  human  experience, 
the  total  aggregate  of  all  sense-perception  of  the 
universe  and  all  reflection  on  it — this  constitutes  the 
chief  faculty  of  the  scientific  man,  and  sense-percep- 
tion and  mere  recollection  play  the  most  insignificant 
part. 

This  points  to  the  complete  independence  of  the 
soul  as  a  far-off  idea.  When  the  soul  can  think  the 
creative  thought,  the  theoretic  vision  of  the  world, 
then  it  comes  to  perfect  insight,  for  it  sees  the  whole 
in  each  part,  and  does  not  require  any  longer  the 
mechanical  memory,  because  it  has  a  higher  form  of 
intellect  that  sees  immediately  in  the  individual  thing 
its  history,  just  as  Lyell  or  Agassiz  saw  the  history 
of  a  pebble  or  a  fish,  or  Asa  Gray  sees  all  botany  in  a 
single  plant.  Mechanical  memory  is  thus  taken  up 
into  a  higher  "f acuity,' '  and,  its  function  being  ab- 
sorbed, it  gradually  perishes.  But  it  never  perishes 
until  its  function  is  provided  for  in  a  more  complete 
manner. 

XI.  Ethical  Culture  Presupposes  Immortality. 
Man  is  born  an  animal,  but  must  become  a  spiritual 
being.  He  is  limited  to  the  present  moment  and  to 
the  present  place,  but  he  must  conquer  all  places  and 
all  times.  Man,  therefore,  has  an  ideal  of  culture 
which  it  is  his  destiny  or  vocation  to  achieve. 

He  must  lift  himself  above  his  mere  particular 
existence  toward  universal  existence.  All  peoples,  no 
matter  how  degraded,  recognize  this  duty.  The 
South  Sea  Islander  commences  with  his  infant  child 
and  teaches  him  habits  that  conform  to>  that  phase 
of  civilization — an  ethical  code  fitting  him  to  live  in 
that  community — and,  above  all,  the  mother-tongue, 
so  that  he  may  receive  the  results  of  the  perceptions 


236  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

and  reflections  of  his  fellow-beings  and  communicate 
his  own  to  them.  The  experience  of  the  tribe,  a  slow 
accretion  through  years  and  ages,  shall  be  preserved 
and  communicated  to  each  new-born  child,  vicari- 
ously saving  him  from  endless  labor  and  suffering. 
Through  culture  the  individual  shall  acquire  the 
experience  of  the  species — shall  live  the.  life  of  the 
race,  and  be  lifted  above  himself.  Such  a  process  as 
culture  thus  puts  man  above  the  accident  of  time  and 
place  in  so  far  as  the  tribe  or  race  has  accomplished 
this. 

Whatever  lifts  man  above  immediate  existence,  the 
wants  and  impulses  of  the  present  moment,  and  gives 
him  self-control,  is  called  ethical.  The  ethical 
grounds  itself  therefore,  in  man's  existence  in  the 
species  and  in  the  possibility  of  the  realization  of  the 
species  in  the  individual.  Hence,  too,  the  ethical 
points  toward  immortality  as  its  presupposition. 
Death  comes  through  the  inadequacy  of  the  indi- 
vidual organism  to  adjust  itself  to  the  environment; 
the  conditions  are  too  general,  and  the  individual  gets 
lost  in  the  changes  that  come  to  it.  Were  the  indi- 
vidual capable  of  adapting  himself  to  all  changes, 
there  could  be  no  death;  the  individual  would  be 
perfectly  universal.  This  process  of  culture  that 
distinguishes  man  from  all  other  animals  points  to- 
ward the  formation  of  an  immortal  individual  distinct 
from  the  body  within  which  it  dwells — an  individual 
who  has  the  capacity  to  realize  within  himself  the 
entire  species. 

Immortality  thus  complements  the  ethical  idea. 
In  an  infinite  universe  the  process  of  realizing  the 
experience  of  all  beings  by  each  being  must  itself  be 
of  infinite  duration.  The  doctrine  of  immortality, 
therefore,  places  man's  life  under  the  form  of  eternity 
and  ennobles  mortal  life  to  its  highest  potency. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        237 

Since  ethics  rest  on  the  idea  of  a  social  whole  as 
the  totality  of  man,  and  on  the  idea  of  an  immortal 
life  as  the  condition  of  realizing  in  each  man  the 
life  of  the  whole,  it  lays  great  stress  on  the  attitude 
of  renunciation  on  the  part  of  the  individual.  The 
special  man  must  deny  himself,  sacrifice  the  present 
moment  in  order  to  attain  the  higher  form  of  eternity. 
To  act  indifferently  toward  the  present  moment  is  to 
"act  disinterestedly,"  as  it  is  called.  It  is  the  prefer- 
ence of  reflected  good  for  immediate  good — my 
good  reflected  from  all  humanity,  my  good  after  their 
good  and  through  their  good,  and  not  my  good  be- 
fore their  good  and  instead  of  their  good. 

This  doctrine  of  disinterestedness  has  been  per- 
verted into'  a  doctrine  of  annihilation  of  all  interest 
by  a  school  of  ascetic  moralists  in  our  times — the 
school  of  the  Positivists.  According  to  them,  it  were 
a  higher  form  of  disinterestedness  to  forswear  all  in- 
terest, and  to  waive  all  return  of  good  upon  ourselves 
from  others.  In  fact,  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  this  dis- 
interestedness is  the  renunciation,  not  only  of  mortal 
life,  but  of  immortal  life — the  renunciation  of  self- 
hood itself. 

Such  supreme  renunciation  is  the  irony  of  renuncia- 
tion. It  would  renounce  not  only  the  pleasures  of 
the  flesh,  but  the  blessedness  of  virtue  and  sainthood. 
It  would  renounce  eternity  as  well  as  the  present 
moment.  The  dialectic  of  such  a  position  would 
force  it  into  the  next  extreme  of  pure  wickedness. 
For,  see,  is  it  not  more  disinterested  to  renounce  eter- 
nal blessedness  than  the  mere  pleasure  of  the  present 
moment?  The  more  renunciation,  the  more  ethical. 
Hence  the  denizens  of  the  Inferno — those  plunged 
into*  all  manner  of  mortal  sins — are  more  virtuous 
than  the  saints  in  paradise.  For  the  sinners — do 
they  not  renounce  blessedness — the  form  of  eternity 


238  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

— the  infinite  happiness,  and  in  their  self-denial  take 
up  with  mere  temporal  pleasures  that  are  sure  to  leave 
stings  of  pain  ?  What  nobleness  to  prefer  hell  with 
its  darkness  and  fire  and  ice  to  paradise  with  its  seren- 
ity and  light  and  love!  Is  it  not  a  step  in  advance 
even  over  such  ethical  culture  as  rejects  immortality 
from  disinterestedness  to  plunge  into  positive  pain, 
and  thereby  exhibit  one's  abstract  freedom  from  all 
lures  to*  happiness  ? 

But  such  uethical  culture"  is  not  true  morality. 
Disinterestedness  is  only  a  relative  matter  in  it — it 
is  incidental,  and  not  the  essential  element  in  virtue. 
It  is  of  no  use  whatever  except  to  eliminate  the  im- 
mediateness  from  life.  The  individual  should  be- 
come the  species,  and,  instead  of  receiving  good 
directly,  should  receive  it  as  reflected  from  his  fellow- 
men.  Not  to  receive  it  as  reflected  from  his  fellow- 
men  would  paralyze  the  circulation  which  is  necessary 
to  the  realization  of  the  species,  and  man's  ideal 
would  vartish  utterly.  The  principle  of  altruism 
implies  receiving  as  well  as  giving.  No  giving  can 
remain  where  no  receiving  is.  Hence  ethics  vanish 
altogether  with  the  paralysis  of  the  return  of  the 
good  upon  the  individual  from  the  whole  of  society. 
The  individual  is  cut  off  from  the  species  by  absolute 
renunciation,  and  cannot  ascend  into  it  by  submitting 
mediated  good  for  immediate,  as  all  codes  of  morals 
demand.  Humanity  lapses  into  bestiality.  Civili- 
zation is  impossible  without  this  ideal  of  the  race  as 
the  goal  of  the  individual.  It  is  the  object  of  lan- 
guage, literature,  science,  religion,  and  all  human  in- 
stitutions. 

Thus,  too,  immortality  is  presupposed  by  all  the 
instrumentalities  of  civilization.     The  completion  of 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        239 

spiritual  life  in  the  communion  of  all  souls  is  the  final 
cause  or  purpose  of  immortal  life. 
Washington,  D.  C. 


Paul  Cams,  Ph.D.,  Editor  of  The  Open  Court  and 
The  Monist,  in  'Whence  and  Whither!' 

THE  COMMUNISM  OF  SOUL-LIFE 

.  .  .  There  is  no  individual  in  the  absolute 
sense.  We  are  not  separate  beings,  distinct  and  or- 
iginal :  we  are  parts  of  a  greater  whole,  and  in  this 
greater  whole  our  destiny,  our  antecedents  as  well  as 
our  future,  is  encompassed.  Only  he  to  whom  by  a 
habit  of  thought  the  old  view  of  individuality  has 
been  endeared  can  see  harm  in  the  breakdown  of  the 
limits  that  separate  us  from  the  life  of  others.  The 
truth  is,  that  when  we  learn  to  recognize  our  spiritual 
identity  with  the  soul-life  outside  the  boundary  of  our 
individual  existence,  our  soul  broadens  and  we  feel 
a  thrill  of  joy  at  the  apprehension  that  we  are  in- 
finitely greater  than  we  thought.  He  who<  shrinks  in 
dismay  from  this  broader  conception  of  the  soul  may- 
be sure  that  he  has  not  as  yet  understood  the  signifi- 
cance of  its  truth. 

The  nature  of  all  soul-life,  intellectual  as  well  as 
emotional,  is  founded  upon  communism.  No  growth 
of  ideas  for  any  length  of  time  is  possible  without 
communication.  It  is  the  exchange  of  thought  and 
mutual  criticism  that  produces  intellectual  progress. 
And  it  is  the  warmth  of  a  sympathetic  heart  which 
kindles  similar  feelings  in  others.  With  every  sent- 
ence that  you  speak  to  others,  a  part  of  your  soul  is 
transferred  to  them.  And  in  their  souls  your  words 
may  fall  like  seeds.     Some  may  fall  by  the  wayside, 


24o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

where  the  fowls  come  and  devour  them  up.  Others 
may  fall  upon  a  rock  where  they  have  not  much  earth. 
Some  may  fall  upon  thorns  which  will  choke  them. 
Yet  some  of  them  will  fall  upon  good  ground:  and 
the  words  will  take  root  and  grow  and  bring  forth 
fruit,  some  a  hundred-fold,  some  sixty-fold,  some 
thirty-fold. 

In  delineating  the  constitution  of  man's  soul,* 
we  have  answered  the  question :  Whence  do  we  come  ? 
We  are  the  continuation  of  the  soul-life  under  whose 
parentage  and  general  care  we  have  taken  our  start, 
and  represent  the  sum  total  of  the  endeavors  of  our 
ancestry  since  times  immemorial,  when  at  the  dawn 


*See  the  book,  "Whence  and  Whither,"  published  by  The 
Open  Court  Co.  Dr.  Carus,  who  is  not  a  believer  in  per- 
sonal immortality,  says  of  his  conception:  "It  may  not  be 
satisfactory  to  those  who  believe  they  are  in  need  of  a  soul- 
entity,  who  think  that  if  their  soul  does  not  consist  of  a  sub- 
stance they  can  have  no  soul  at  all  and  their  immortality 
would  be  a  flimsy  makeshift:  but  they  cannot  say  that  it  is 
untrue.  They  cannot  deny  that  our  soul  is  actually  formed 
first  by  the  inheritance  of  dispositions  and  then  through 
education  under  the  formative  influence  of  other  souls. 
Nor  can  it  be  gainsaid  that  in  our  recollections  and  remin- 
iscences the  souls  of  the  dead  remain  living  presences  exercis- 
ing a  powerful  influence  upon  our  lives.  In  this  sense  they 
become  angels,  i.  e.,  spiritual  guides,  whose  inspirations  have 
proved  to  be  of  the  greatest  importance.  The  dead  have 
finished  their  career:  their  course  is  run,  and  all  their 
troubles  are  over.  Theirs  is  a  condition  of  Paradisian  bliss 
and  peace.  Yet  their  usefulness  is  not  gone:  they  con- 
tinue to  surround  us  and  to  comfort  us,  and  we  deem  the 
sentiment,  as  expressed  in  many  church  hymns  and  poems, 
full  of  assurance  of  an  immortality,  not  only  legitimate  but 
even  perfectly  tenable  from  our  own  radical  standpoint." 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        241 

of  creation  the  first  speck  of  living  matter  began  its 
venturesome  career. 

Whither  do  we  fare?  Apparently  our  body  is  dis- 
solved at  death  and  disintegrated  into'  its  elements. 
Feeling  becomes  extinct  in  it,  thought  discontinues, 
and  all  activity  ceases.  Is  not,  then,  our  life  spent 
for  nothing  ?  For,  if  we  are  gone  and  nothing  is  left 
of  our  bodily  organization  what  is  the  use  whether 
we  were  good  or  bad,  whether  we  were  a  genius  or  a 
fool,  whether  our  existence  was  idled  away  in  empty 
pleasure  or  filled  with  great  and  noble  deeds  ?  Is  it 
not  quite  indifferent  whether  or  not  latter  generations 
praise  or  blame  us,  whether  we  become  a  blessing  to 
posterity  or  a  curse? 

But  we  have  learned  to  distinguish  between  our 
material  make-up  and  its  form,  between  body  and 
spirit,  between  the  ego  and  the  soul.  The  explana- 
tion of  the  nature  of  our  soul  and  its  Whence  suggests 
the  answer  to  the  question,  Whither?  so  anxiously 
asked  by  millions  of  quivering  lips.  The  vanity  fair 
of  life  which  contributes  so  much  to  produce  the  ego- 
illusion  becomes  most  apparent  in  death,  but  when 
the  vessel  is  broken,  its  contents  are  not  spilled  to 
evaporate  into  hazy  clouds.  In  order  to  know  what 
shall  become  of  us,  we  must  ask  ourselves,  What 
has  become  of  our  ancestors?  Their  bodies  have 
crumbled  into  dust  and  nothing  is  left  of  them,  ex- 
cept those  life-forms  which  have  been  transmitted  to 
later  generations  and  have  finally  built  up  our  own 
soul.  Yet  these  life-forms  are  their  souls.  All  that 
which  proved  good  is  treasured  up  and  preserved  in 
the  continued  life  of  the  race.  Their  bodies  are 
gone,  but  their  souls  remain.  .  .  .  Our  corpor- 
eal individuality  is  dissolved  in  death,  but  not  our 
personality.  Our  existence  after  death,  far  from  be- 
ing a  dissolution,  into  the  All,  consists  in  this  that  we 


242  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

are  gathered  to  our  fathers,  and  in  this  state  all  our 
personal  features  are  preserved.  As  sure  as  the  law 
of  cause  and  effect  is  true,  so*  sure  is  the  continuance  of 
soul-life  even  after  the  death  of  the  individual  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  the  preservation  of  form.  It  is 
not  non-existence  but  a  condition  of  intense  useful- 
ness, a  higher  kind  of  life,  the  grandeur  of  which 
suggested  to  George  Eliot  this  noble  prayer: 


"O  may  I  join  the  choir  invisible 

Of  those  immortal  dead  who  live  again 

In  minds  made  better  by  their  presence:  live 

In  pulses  stirr'd  to  generosity. 

In  deeds  of  daring  rectitude,  in  scorn 

For  miserable  aims  that  end  with  self, 

In  thoughts  sublime  that  pierce  the  night  like  stars, 

And  with  their  mild  persistence  urge  man's  search 

To  vaster  issues. 

"This  is  life  to  come, 
Which  martyr'd  men  have  made  more  glorious 
For  us  who  strive  to  follow.,, 


This  view  of  immortality  is  as  obvious  as  it  is  un- 
deniable even  by  the  bigoted  unbeliever  and  the  most 
rabid  sceptic.  The  sole  difficulty  which  the  average 
man  encounters  is  his  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  im- 
portance of  form.  Forms  are  not  non-entities,  not 
shadows,  or  phantasms;  forms  are  real.  Our  per- 
sonality becomes  possible  through  a  continuance  of 
our  life- forms;  and  these  life-forms  are  preserved 
beyond  death.  Our  immortality,  accordingly,  is  as 
real  as  is  our  identity  in  the  changes  of  life.  The 
latter  is  no  more  nor  less  absolute  than  the  former, 
and  as  the  former  is  generally  satisfactory  to  man- 
kind, why  should  we  find  fault  with  the  former  ?  He 
who  comprehends  the  reality  of  form  will  certainly 
know  that  it  is  all  we  iriay  expect,  and  we  cannot  ask 
for  anything  better. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        243 

The  truth  that  every  personality  is  distinctly  defi- 
nite in  its  character  and  will  remain  distinctly  itself 
after  death,  does  not  imply  that  it  is  a  separate  entity 
which  might  have  originated  or  could  exist  in  seclu- 
sion. There  is  no  isolation  in  the  domain  of  spirit, 
and  the  life  of  the  soul  is  rooted  in  communism. 

Every  spiritual  giving  is  a  gaining;  it  is  a  taking 
possession  of  other  peoples'  minds.  It  is  an  expan- 
sion, a  transplantation  of  our  thoughts,  a  psychic 
growth  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  our  individual 
existence  into  other  souls;  it  is  a  rebuilding,  a  con- 
struction of  our  own  souls  or  of  parts  of  our  own 
souls,  in  other  souls.  It  is  a  transference  of  mind. 
Every  conversation  is  an  exchange  of  souls.  Those 
whose  souls  are  uflat,  stale  and  unprofitable,"  cannot 
be  expected  to  overflow  with  deep  thought.  But 
those  who  are  rich  in  spiritual  treasures  will  not,  as 
misers,  keep  them  for  themselves.  For  out  of  the 
abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh,  and 
spiritual  treasures  are  not  wasted  when  imparted; 
they  are  not  lost,  but  put  out  on  usury,  and  will  multi- 
ply and  thus  bring  great  reward,  although  the  reward 
be  not  a  material  profit  to  ourselves. 

The  communism  of  soul-life  is  not  limited  to  the 
present  generation;  it  extends  to  the  past  as  well  as 
to  the  future.  The  present  generation  of  humanity 
is  like  the  present  generation  of  live  corals  who  have 
grown  from,  and  rest  upon,  the  work  of  former 
generations.  The  ancestors  of  the  corals  now  on  the 
surface  lived  in  the  shallow  places  of  the  ocean, 
where  the  sun  made  the  waters  warm  and  the  surf 
afforded  them  sufficient  food;  and  when  in  the  lapse 
of  time  through  terrestrial  changes  the  bottom  on 
which  they  had  settled,  sank  slowly  deeper  and  deeper, 
they  built  higher  and  higher,  and  in  this  way  they 
managed  to  keep  near  the  surface.     The  branches 


244  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

in  the  cold,  deep  waters  are  now  dead;  yet  they 
furnish  a  solid  basis  to  the  coral  life  above,  where  the 
sun  shines  and  the  currents  of  the  surf  pass  to  and 
fro. 

If  the  corals  could  think  and  speak,  I  wonder 
whether  the  living  generation  on  the  surface  would 
not  rail  at  the  corals  in  the  cold  deep  below!  At 
least  the  present  human  generation  very  often  proves 
ungrateful  to  its  predecessors.  Those  who  feel  the 
necessity  of  progress,  who  wish  humanity  to  remain 
uppermost  and  to  rise  higher,  are  apt  to*  overlook  the 
merits  of  their  ancestors ;  they  observe  that  the  ideas 
of  former  generations  are  antiquated  and  do  no 
longer  fit  into  the  present  time.  Thus  they  brand  the 
old  views  as  superstitions  and  forget  that  the  views 
of  the  present  generation  have  developed  from  the 
old,  and  that  they  stand  upon  their  ancestors'  work. 
It  would  seem  as  if  the  dead  corals  in  the  cold,  dreary 
deep  must  have  been  always  unfit  for  life;  yet  there 
was  a  time  when  their  coral  homes  thrilled  with  life; 
and  so  there  was  a  time  when  the  superstitions  of  to- 
day were  true  science  and  true  religion  although  they 
are  now  dreary  and  cold.  Where  is  the  coral  life  of 
the  past?  Has  it  disappeared?  No,  it  continues, 
and  its  continuation  is  the  coral  life;  of  to-day.  So 
the  humanity  of  former  generations  has  not  gone. 
The  single  corals  are  connected  among  themselves 
through  the  canals  in  the  branches  from  which  they 
grow.  No  one  of  them  can  prosper  without  supply- 
ing its  neighbors  with  the  superabundance  of  its  pros- 
perity. The  main  difference  is  that  the  communism 
of  soul-life  is  much  closer  and  more  intimate  than 
that  of  the  coral  plant,  and  the  thinker  who  freely 
gives  away  his  spiritual  treasures,  unlike  the  giver 
of  material  gifts,  does  not  lose ;  he  is  rather  the  gainer 
for   spiritual   possessions   grow    in   importance   the 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        245 

more  profusely  they  are  imparted.  The  commoner 
they  are,  the  more  powerful  they  become. 

The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  symbolizes  a 
spiritual  fact — the  holy  communion  of  mankind. 
But  remember  that  the  eating  of  the  bread  and  the 
drinking  of  the  wine  are  allegorical;  the  actual  com- 
munion consists  in  an  exchange  of  souk  which  is  done 
through  the  vehicle  of  speech,  the  word,  the  logos. 

Our  spiritual  life  is  through  others,  with  others, 
and  in  others.  The  more  we  are  conscious  of  the 
communism  of  soul-life*,  the  more  our  heart  expands 
beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  our  selfhood,  the  more 
conscious  shall  we  become  of  our  immortality.  Says 
Schiller  in  one  of  his  Xenions  : 

"Art   thou   afraid,   friend,   of   death   and   thou   longest   for   life 

everlasting? 
Live  as  a  part  of  the  whole;  when  thou  art  gone  it  remains." 


PART  III 
POEMS 


Mr.  Hezekiah  Butterworth,  in  Zioris  Herald. 
O  SOUL  OF  MINE 

(Revelations  n.  17.) 

(The  White  Stone  gave  to  victors  the  freedom  of 
the  city.  It  was  also  the  stone  of  acquittalt  and  on 
it  was  written  a  new  name.) 

I 

O  Soul  of  mine,  I  hear  a  deep  Voice  speaking, 
As  cares  increasing  on  thy  swift  steps  press, 
What  says  the  Voice? — "The  only  think  worth  seek- 
ing 

Is  righteousness. 

II 

"In  righteousness  all  things  may'st  thou  inherit, 
Her  past  awaits  the  years  eterne  to  bless, 
Life  loses  all  if  it  gain  not  the  merit 
Of  righteousness. 

Ill 

O  Soul  of  mine,  the  sun's  brief  hours  are  flying, 
And  dust  is  all  these  mortal  hands  possess ; 
Where  rise  the  fountains  of  the  life  undying? — 
In  righteousness. 

(249) 


25o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

IV 

"Soul,  in  thyself  are  hidden  compensations 
For  disappointment,  sorrow  and  distress; 
Not  wealth,  but  sacrifice,  attains  the  stations 
To  righteousness." 


O  Soul  of  mine,  the  cross  is  shining  o'er  thee, 
Its  glory  lights  each  step  of  thy  duress, 
All  thy  ideals  may  change  to  life  before  thee 
Through  righteousness. 

VI 

O  Soul  of  mine,  thou  may'st  be  poor  and  cotless, 
Lone  disappointment  may  thy  hopes  depress: 
The  heavens  are  thine,  if  thou  in  Christ  be  spotless 
In  righteousness. 

VII 

Pleasure  ?    We  part  since  thou  art  lost  in  winning. 
Wealth?     Thou  dost  make  the  soul's-  true  value  less. 
Fame?     What   are   thou   but   night's   tone   firefly's 
spinning, 

To  righteousness? 

VIII 

"There  is  a  city  of  the  spheres  immortal, 
That  victors  over  self  and  sin  possess, 
And  the  White  Stone  that  opes  its  irised  portal 
Is  righteousness." 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        251 
IX 

O  Sacrifice,  for  thine  own  work  receive  me, 
With  gains  of  losses  let  me  others  bless, 
Star  of  the  Cross,  I  follow  and  believe  thee, 
My  righteousness. 

x 

Whither?    I  know  not — into  life  eternal, 
My  Guide  I  know,  his  feet  I  after  press, 
Within  the  soul  are  life  and  light  supernal — 
In  righteousness ! 
Boston,  Mass. 


Mr.  Henry  Abbey,  in  "Complete  Poems,"  Fourth 
Enlarged  Edition. 

FAITH'S  VISTA 

When  from  the  vaulted  wonder  of  the  sky 
The  curtain  of  the  light  is  drawn  aside, 
And  I  behold  the  stars  in  all  their  wide 
Significance  and  glorious  mystery, 
Assured  that  those  more  distant  orbs  are  suns 
Round  which  innumerable  worlds  revolVe, — 
My  faith  grows  strong,  my  day-born  doubts  dissolve, 
And  death,  that  dread  annulment  which  life  shuns, 
Or  fain  would  shun,  becomes  to  life  the  way, 
The  thoroughfare  to  greater  worlds  on  high, 
The  bridge  from  star  to  star.     Seek  how  we  may, 
There  is  no  other  road  across  the  sky; 
And,  looking  up,  I  hear  star-voices  say : 
"You  could  not  reach  us  if  you  did  not  die." 
Kingston,  N.  Y. 


252  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Charles  F.  Richardson,  A.  M.,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of 
English,  Dartmouth  College,  in  "The  End  of 
the  Beginning." 

AFTER  DEATH 

When  I  forthfare  beyond  this  narrow  earth, 

With  all  its  metes  and  bounds  of  now  and  here, 
And  brooding  clouds  of  ignorance  and  fear 

That  overhung  me  on  my  day  of  birth, 

Where  through  the  jocund  sun's  perennial  mirth 
Has  shown  more  inly  bright  each  coming  year, 
With  some  new  glory  of  that  outer  sphere 

Where  length  and  breadth  and  light  are  little  worth, 

Then  shall  I  find  that  even  here  below 
We  guessed  the  secret  of  eternity, 
And  learned  in  years  the  yearless  mystery; 

For  in  our  earliest  world  we  came  to  know 
The  master-lesson  and  the  riddle's  key : 
Unending  love  unending  growth  shall  be. 
Hanover,   N.   H. 


Mrs.  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps  Ward,  in  "Songs  of  the 
Silent  World."* 

AFTERWARD 

There  is  no  vacant  chair.     The  loving  meet — 
A  group  unbroken — smitten,  who1  knows  how  ? 

One  sitteth  silent  only,  in  his  usual  seat; 

We  gave  him  once  that  freedom.     Why  not  now  ? 


*For  an  exhaustive  discussion  by  Mrs.  Ward  of  the  prin- 
ciple that  man  is  born  to  fight  for  existence,  here  and  in  the 
life  eternal,  see  "A  Struggle  for  Immortality,"  Houghton, 
Mifflin  and  Co.,  Publishers,  1889. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        253 

Perhaps  he  is  too  weary,  and  needs  rest ; 

He  needed  it  too  often,  nor  could  we 
Bestow.     God  gave  it,  knowing  how  to  do  so  best. 

Which  of  us  would  disturb  him?     Let  him  be. 

There  is  no  vacant  chair.     If  he  will  take 
The  mood  to  listen  mutely,  be  it  done. 

By  his  least  mood  we  crossed,  for  which  the  heart 
must  ache, 
Plead  not  nor  question  !    Let  him  have  this  one. 

Death  is  a  mood  of  life.     It  is  no  whim 

By  which  life's  Giver  mocks  a  broken  heart. 

Death  is  life's  reticence.     Still  audible  to  Him, 
The  hushed  voice,  happy,  speaketh  on,  apart. 

There  is  no  vacant  chair.     To  love  is  still 
To  have.     Nearer  to  memory  than  to  eye, 

And  dearer  yet  to  anguish  than  to  comfort,  will 
We  hold  him  by  our  love,  that  cannot  die. 

For  while  it  doth  not,  thus  he  cannot.     Try ! 

Who  can  put  out  the  motion  or  the  smile  ? 
The  old  ways  of  being  noble  all  with  him  laid  by? 

Because  we  love,  he  is.     Then  trust  awhile. 

Newton  Centre,  Mass. 


Miss  Grace  Denio  Litchfield,  in  "Mimosa  Leaves." 

TO  THE  CICADA  SEPTEMDECIM 

Buried  at  moment  of  thy  birth 
Beneath  the  earth; 
Hid  thy  life  long  afar 
From  glimpse  of  nearest  star; 


254  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Creeping  in  darkness  while  rich  seasons  roll 
Year  following  year,  above  thy  stunted  soul ; 
Knowing  but  what  the  dead  know  in  the  tomb 

Of  silence  and  of  gloom. 
Dead,  thou  too,  in  thy  present  and  thy  past, — 
What  call  doth  reach  thy  deafened  ear  at  last? 
What  instinct  bids  thee  yearn  toward  the  light, — 

Thou,  who  has  known  but  night? 
What  dream  dawns  in  thee,  beautiful  and  bold, 
Of  sylvan  flight  in  noons  of  shimmering  gold, 
Where  trembling  trees  their  fluted  leaves  unfold? 
How  should  such  radiant  dream  be  thine? 
Or  how  canst  thou  divine 
The  counting  of  the  years? 
For  when  their  meted  tale  is  told, 
Lo,  summoned  straightway  from  the  mould 
By  will  none  other  hears, — 
Lo,  born  anew, 
The  dream  thou  couldst  not  dream  is  true ! 
Thy  sluggish  spirit  wakes,  spreads  wings  away, 
And  knows  the  day. 

So,  when  God's  time  is  done,  may  mystic  call 

On  my  dull  senses  fall. 
So  may  I,  groping  upward  through  life's  night, 
Go  forth,  new-winged,  to<  an  undreamed-of  light ! 
Washington,  D.  C. 


Mr.  C.  H.  Miller,  "Joaquin  Miller/'  in  "Songs  of 
the  Sierras" 

EVEN  SO 


God  knows  that,  at  the  best,  life  brings 
The  soul's  share  so  exceeding  small 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        255 

That  many  mighty  souls  grow  weak 
And  weary  for  some  better  things, 
And  hungered  even  unto  death. 
Laugh  loud,  be  glad  with  ready  breath, 
For  after  all  are  joy  and  grief 
Not  merely  matters  of  belief  ? 
And  what  is  certain,  after  all, 
But  death,  delightful,  patient  death? 

0  cool  and  perfect  peaceful  sleep, 
Without  one  tossing  hand,  or  deep 
Sad  sigh  and  catching  in  of  breath ! 

Be  satisfied.     The  price  of  breath 
Is  paid  in  toil.     But  knowledge  is 
Bought  only  with  a  weary  care, 
And  wisdom  means  a  world  of  pain. 
Well,  we  have  suffered,  will  again, 
And  we  can  work  and  wait  and  bear, 
Strong  in  the  certainty  of  bliss. 
Death  is  delightful:  after  death 
Breaks  in  the  dawn  of  perfect  day. 
Let  question  he  who  will:  the  may 
Throws  fragrance  far  beyond  the  wall. 

1  pass  no  word  with  such :  'tis  fit 
To  pity  such ;  therefore  I  say 

Be  wise  and  make  the  best  of  it; 
Content  and  strong  against  the  fall. 

Death  is  delightful.     Death  is  dawn, 
The  waking  from  a  weary  night 
Of  fevers  unto  truth  and  light. 
Fame  is  not  much,  love  is  not  much, 
Yet  what  else  is  there  worth  the  touch 
Of  lifted  hands  with  dagger  drawn? 
So  surely  life  is  little  worth : 
Therefore  I  say,  Look  up;  therefore 


256  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

I  say,  One  little  star  has  more 
Bright  gold  than  all  the  earth  of  earth. 
Yet  we  must  labor,  plant  to  reap — 
Life  knows  no  folding  up  of  hands — 
Must  plough  the  soul,  as  ploughing  lands, 
In  furrows  fashioned  strong  and  deep. 
Life  has  its  lesson.     Let  us  learn 
The  hard  long  lesson  from  the  birth, 
And  be  content;    stand  breast  to  breast, 
And  bear  and  battle  till  the  rest. 

The  Heights,  Dimond,  Cal. 


Mrs.  Louise  Chandler  Moulton,  in  "At  the  Wind's 
Will" 


MY  FATHER'S  HOUSE 

When  shall  I  join  the  blessed  company 
Of  those  this  barren  world  to  me  denies? 
When  shall  I  wake  to  the  new  day's  surprise, 

Beyond  the  murmur  of  death's  moaning  sea, 

In  that  glad  home  where  my  best  loved  ones  be; 
And  know  that  I  have  found  my  Paradise, 
Finding  again  the  love  that  never  dies, 

The  heart's  dear  welcome,  biding  there  for  me? 

I  wait  alone  upon  life's  wind-swept  beach1 — 

The  waves  are  high — the  sea  is  wild  and  wide — 
Yet  Death,  bold  pilot,  all  their  wrath  shall  dare, 

And  guide  me  to  the  shore  I  fain  would  reach : 
Even  now  I  hear  the  swift,  incoming  tide, 
Whose  slow,  eternal  ebb  my  bark  shall  bear. 
Boston,  Mass. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        257 

Mrs.  Emily  Huntington  Miller,  A.  M.,  in  "For  the 
Beloved." 

AFTER  THE  FEAST 

The  stars  shine  faintly  through  the  gloom; 

The  guests  are  gone — the  fires  burn  low — 
I  sit  within  the  echoing  room 

To  greet  mine  own  before  I  go>, 
Mine  own  for  whom  beside  the  board 

To-day  no  empty  chair  was  set, 
For  whom  the  silent  pledge  was  poured 

While  tears  the  trembling  eyelids  wet. 

Beloved  faces,  faintly  set 

In  halos  of  my  tenderest  thought — 
Sweet  eyes  whose  heavenly  radiance  yet 

With  yearning  human  love  is  fraught — 
Soft  lips  whose  kisses,  cool  and  slow, 

Drop  like  a  balm  on  earthly  pain — 
Dear  hands  whose  every  touch  I  know, 

Yet  may  not  hope  to  clasp  again — 

• 
I  know  not  to  what  wondrous  height 

In  that  wide  heaven  their  thought  has  grown, 
Or  what  new  fountains  of  delight, 

Untasted  here  their  lips  have  known; 
But  since  through  changing  years  I  keep 

Their  precious  memory  bright  and  fair, 
I  cannot  deem  that  love  can  sleep, 

Or  cease  its  tender  vigils  there. 


O  unforgetting  souls  that  swell 
The  bright,  exultant  hosts  above, 

Where  face  to  face  with  Him  ye  dwell, 
Whose  endless  years  are  endless  love, 


258  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Tonight  by  some  celestial  air 
The  cloudy  curtain  wide  is  blown, 
Guests  of  my  heart,  but  grown  more  fair, 
I  see  you,  know  you,  claim  my  own ! 
Evans  ton,  Ills. 


Richard  Watson  Gilder,  A.  M.,  LL.D.,  L.  H.  D., 

Editor  of  the  Century,  in  uFive  Books  of  Song." 

"CALL  ME  NOT  DEAD" 

Call  me  not  dead  when  I,  indeed,  have  gone 

Into  the  company  of  the  ever-living 

High  and  most  glorious  poets !     Let  thanksgiving 
Rather  be  made.    Say :  "He  at  last  hath  won 
Rest  and  release,  converse  supreme  and  wise, 

Music  and  song  and  light  of  immortal  faces ; 

Today,  perhaps,  wandering  in  starry  places, 
He  hath  met  Keatsl  and  known  hiim  by  his  eyes. 
To-morrow  (who  can  say?)  Shakespeare  may  pass, 

And  our  lost  friend  just  catch  one  syllable 

Of  that  three-centuried  wit  that  kept  so  well ; 
Or  Milton:  or  Dante,  looking  on  the  grass 

Thinking  of  Beatrice,  and  listening  still 

To  chanted  hymns  that  sound  from  the  heavenly 
hill." 

New  York  City. 

Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich,  A.  M.,  L.  H.  D.,  in  i(Later 
Lyrics" 

"I  VEX  ME  NOT  WITH  BROODING  ON  THE 
YEARS" 

I  vex  me  not  with  brooding  on  the  years 

That  were  ere  I  drew  breath ;  why  should  I  then 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        259 

Distrust  the  darkness  that  may  fall  again 
When  life  is  done?     Perchance  in  other  spheres — 
Dead  planets — I  once  tasted  mortal  tears, 
And  walked  as  now  among  a  throng  of  men, 
Pondering  things  that  lay  beyond  my  ken, 
Questioning  death,  and  solacing  my  fears. 
Ofttimes  indeed  strange  sense  have  I  of  this, 
Vague  memories  that  hold  me  with  a  spell, 
Touches  of  unseen  lips  upon  my  brow, 
Breathing  some  incommunicable  bliss ! 
In  years  foregone,  O  Soul,  was  all  not  well  ? 
Still  lovelier  life  awaits  thee.     Fear  not  thou ! 
Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y. 


Sara  J.  Lippincott,  "Grace  Greenwood"  in  The  In- 
dependent. 

TWO  CHRISTMAS  TIMES 

There  is  no  failure  in  God's  sacred  days, 
Nor  halt  nor  hurry  in  their  march  sublime ; 

Ours  are  the  purposeless,  uncertain  ways, 

And  ours  the  woful  change  from  time  to  time. 

Once,  in  the  years  when  earth  and  life  seemed  new, 
And  every  season  in  fresh  charms  arrayed — 

These  were  the  Christmas  scenes  my  fancy  drew, 
In  cheery  light  and  soft  poetic  shade. 

I 

Now  is  the  season  when  the  town's  dull  street 
Grows  riotous  with  mirth,  and  song  and  light, 

x\nd  joyous  greetings,  and  child-laughter  sweet, 
And  merry  bells,  that  mock  the  frosty  night. 


26o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Now  is  the  season  when,  on  lonely  ways, 

The   crowded   coach   toils   through   the   drifting 
snows ; 

When,  heavenly  welcome  to  the  traveler's  gaze, 
The  dear  home-firelight  through  his  window  glows. 

Now  is  the  season  when,  by  sedgy  lakes, 

The  sportsman's  shot  rings  sharpest  on  the  ear; 

When  stars  blink  fitful  through  the  falling  flakes, 
And  dim,  dumb  skies  hang  over  woodlands  drear. 

Now,  all  bereft,  the  trees,  whose  whispering  leaves 

So  oft  to  playful  dalliance  did  invite 
The  wandering  winds  of  balmy  summer  eves, 

Toss  their  bare  arms,  and  moan  through  all  the 
night. 

The  streams  whose  silver  laughter  filled  the  dell, 
Whose  murmurous  ripple  ran  through  woods  of 
June, 

Now,  frost  enthralled,  bound  'neath  an  icy  spell, 
Glide  slow  and  silent,  glittering  to  the  moon. 

But  patient  Earth  robbed  of  the  light  and  glow 
Of  sun  and  bloom, — her  song  all  taken  wing, — 

Close-folded  in  her  shroud-like  robe  of  snow, 

Waits  for  the  call  and  kindling  breath  of  Spring. 

So,  when  chill  sorrow  blights  life's  summer  bloom, 
Brings  dreary  silence  for  joy's  birdlike  strain, 

Let  us  lie  still,  beneath  the  storm,  the  gloom, 
And  wait  till  God  shall  breathe  on  us  again. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        261 
II 

Now  life  and  I  are  growing  sad  and  old; 

I  watch  the  night  fall  of  the  year,  and  see 
No  old-home  firelight  beating  back  the  cold, 

No  old-home  faces  looking  out  for  me. 

Now,  Christmas  chimes  seem  like  to  hurried  knells, 
And  mind  me  of  white  mounds,  in  churchyard  lone ; 

And  Christmas  greetings  mind  of  last  farewells, 
And  hands  that  nevermore  may  clasp  mine  own. 

I  am  not  patient  of  Life's  wintertime, 

Dream  not  of  flowers  hid  'neath  its  robe  of  white; 
I  passionately  mourn  its  golden  prime, 

The  loves  and  hopes,  frost-touched,  in  Sorrow's 
night. 

I  see  my  path  slant  downward,  toward 

A  sullen  river,  icy  at  the  brim, 
And  know  my  soul  must  cross  that  awful  ford 

All,  all  alone,  to  regions  strange  and  dim ! 

A  voice  melts  softly  through  the  misty  air ! 

"Fear  not  I"  it  says.  "Beyond  the  flood  thou'lt  see 
The  old  dear  home-light  in  a  mansion  fair, 

Within  the  'Father's  House' — it  shines  for  thee ! 

Near  the  white  portals,  waiting,  even  now, 
Thine  own,  thy  very  own,  beloveds  stand; 

God's  light  immortal  resting  on  each  brow, 

But  Earth's  dear  love  in  welcoming  voice  an'! 
hand." 

New  Rochelle,  N.  Y. 


262  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Mr.  Edwin  Markham  in  "The  Man  With  the  Hoe 
and  Other  Poems,"  and  "Lincoln  and  Other 
Poems" 

("From  the  Man  With  the  Hoe") 

ONE  LIFE,  ONE  LAW 

What  do  we  know — what  need  we  know 
Of  the  great  world  to  which  we  go? 
We  peer  into  the  tomb,  and  hark : 
Its  walls  are  dim,  its  doors  are  dark. 

Be  still,  O  mourning  heart,  nor  seek 
To  make  the  tongueless  silence  speak; 
Be  still,  be  strong,  nor  wish  to  find 
Their  way  who  leave  the  world  behind— 
Voices  and  forms  forever  gone 
Into  the  darkness  of  the  dawn. 

What  is  their  wisdom,  clear  and  deep?— 

That  as  men  sow  they  surely  reap, — 

That  every  thought,  that  every  deed, 

Is  sown  into  the  soul  for  seed. 

They  have  no<  word  we  do  not  know, — 

Nor  yet  the  cherubim  aglow 

With  God :  we  know  that  virtue  saves, — 

They  know  no  more  beyond  the  graves. 


(From  "Lincoln  and  Other  Poems") 

A  BARGAIN 

Scoffer,  you  cry,  "Where  is  your  'other  world,' 
Your  fabled  heaven  in  far  eternities?" 

Well  said,  but  first,  before  your  lip  is  curled, 
Tell  ('tis  a  little  thing)  where  this  world  is ! 
West  New  Brighton,  S.  I. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        263 

Mr.  Edward  Robeson  Taylor,  Dean  Hastings  Col- 
lege of  Law,  in  "Into  the  Light." 

INTO  THE  LIGHT 


It  cannot  matter,  for  we  are  so  small 

A  part  of  the  immeasurable  All. 

So  does  thy  demon  whisper  in  thine  ear 

When  pleasures  lure  thee  as  when  shadows  fall. 

XI 

But  know  that  every  eon  which  has  gone 
Before  thee  since  life's  earliest  breath  was  drawn 
Has  helped  compound  thee  into  what  thou  art — 
A  deathless  spirit  moving  on,  and  on. 

XII 

\ 

And  that  the  tiniest  creature's  slenderest  strain 
In  loneliest  wilderness  is  not  in  vain, 
But  makes  inseparable  part  of  all 
Which  fills  Divinity's  unending  reign. 


XIV 

Couldst  thou  but  only  feel,  without  surcease, 
Though  woes  and  dangers  round  thee  still  increase, 
Thyself  as  part  of  the  eternal  scheme, 
Thy  soul  might  anchor  in  the  port  of  Peace — 


264  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

XV 

The  eternal  scheme  whose  order  as  divine 
Thou  mayst  not  question,  with  its  blazing  sign 
Above  and  round  thee,  and  its  rhythmic  note 
Forever  ringing  in  that  heart  of  thine. 


XLV 

Things,  forces,  change  and  change,  but  never  die ; 
Infinitude  is  writ  on  earth  and  sky ; 
And  if  it  be  no  atom  lives  in  vain, 
How  can  thy  spirit  ever  clod-like  lie? 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 


Silas  Weir  Mitchell,  M.  D.,  LL.D.,  in  "Collected 
Poems  of  S.  Weir  Mitchell." 

OF  ONE  WHO  SEEMED  TO  HAVE  FAILED 

Death's  but  one  more  to-morrow.    Thou  art  gray 


With  many  a  death  of  many  a  yesterday. 

O  yearning  heart  that  lacked  the  athlete's  force 

And,  stumbling,  fell  upon  the  beaten  course, 

And  looked,  and  saw  with  ever  glazing  eyes 

Some  lower  soul  that  seemed  to  win  the  prize ! 

Lo,  Death,  the  just,  who  comes  to  all  alike, 

Life's  sorry  scales  of  right  anew  shall  strike. 

Forth,  through  the  night,  on  unknown  shores  to  win 

The  peace  of  God  unstirred  by  sense  of  sin ! 

There  love  without  desire  shall,  like  a  mist 

At  evening  precious  to  the  drooping  flower, 

Possess  thy  soul  in  ownership,  and  kissed 

By  viewless  lips,  whose  touch  shall  be  a  dower 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        265 

Of  genius  and  of  winged  serenity, 

Thou  shalt  abide  in  realms  of  poesy. 

There  soul  hath  touch  of  soul,  and  there  the  great 

Cast  wide  to  welcome  thee  joy's  golden  gate. 

Freeborn  to  untold  thoughts  that  age  on  age 

Caressed  sweet  singers  in  their  sacred  sleep, 

Thy  soul  shall  enter  on  its  heritage 

Of  God's  unuttered  wisdom.    Tho>u  shalt  sweep 

With  hand  assured  the  ringing  lyre  of  life, 

Till  the  fierce  anguish  of  its  bitter  strife, 

Its  pain,  death,  discord,  sorrow,  and  despair, 

Break  into  rhythmic  music.    Thou  shalt  share 

The  prophet-joy  that  kept  forever  glad 

God's  poet-souls  when  all  a  world  was  sad. 

Enter  and  live !  thou  hast  not  lived  before ; 

We  were  but  soul-cast  shadows.    Ah,  no  more 

The  heart  shall  bear  the  burdens  of  the  brain; 

Now  shall  the  strong  heart  think,  nor  think  in  vain. 

In  the  dear  company  of  peace,  and  those 

Who  bore  for  man  life's  utmost  agony, 

Thy  soul  shall  climb  to  cliffs  of  still  repose, 

And  see  before  thee  lie  Time's  mystery, 

And  that  which  is  God's  time,  Eternity  ; 

Whence  sweeping  over  thee  dim  myriad  things, 

The  awful  centuries  yet  to  be,  in  hosts 

That  stir  the  vast  of  heaven  with  formless  wings, 

Shall  cast  for  thee  their  shrouds,  and,  like  to  ghosts, 

Unriddle  all  the  past,  till,  awed  and  still, 

Thy  soul  the  secret  hath  of  good  and  ill. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


266  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Mr.  Louis  Alexander  Robertson,  in  "Beyond  the  Re- 
quiems" 

******* 

All  our  philosophic  pedants,  all  our  sons  of  Science 

know 
Not  a  whit  more  than  dullard  knew  a  million  years 

ago, 

As  to  where  the  spirit  wanders  when  the  body  sinks  in 

death, 
For  beyond  the  grave's  black  portals  never  man  has 

breathed  one  breath. 

We  have  probed  the  past  and  hunted  in  its  deepest, 

darkest  cells, 
But  the  secret  still  eludes  us,  never  by  one  whisper 

tells 

Whence  Life  drew  its  first  faint  tremor,  for  it  was  not 

born  of  naught ; 
Never  seed  spontaneous  blossoms  till  the  quickening 

breath  be  brought. 

As  we  know  not  the  beginning,  so  we  may  not  know 

the  end, 
But  as  life  from  life  first  started,  back  through  death 

to  life  'twill  wend. 

Now  and  then  some  guide  arises  who  would  turn  us 

from  our  path 
With  sweet  promises  that  please  us,  or  with  threats 

of  future  wrath. 

We  have  listened  to  His  lessons,  heard  the  Naza- 

rene's  behest, — 
" Follow  me,   my  way-worn  children;    I   alone  can 

give  ye  rest." 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        267 

Miss  Gertrude  Bloede,  "Stuart  Sterne,"  in  The  At- 
lantic  Monthly. 

SOUL,  WHEREFORE  FRET  THEE? 

Soul,  wherefore  fret  thee?    Striving  still  to  throw 
Some  light  upon  the  primal  mystery 
Through  rolling  ages  pondered  ceaselessly, 

Whence  thou  hast  come,  and  whither  thou  shalt  go ! 

Some  deepest,  secret  voice  gives  thee  to*  know 
How,  older  than  created  earth  and  sea, 
Thou  hast  been  ever,  shalt  forever  be, — 

Unborn — undying!      Thy  own  life  doth   show, 
Yester,  to-day,  to-morrow,  but  a  chain 
Of  dusky  pearls,  whereof  we  seek  in  vain 

End  or  beginning,  though  perchance  the  one 

We  call  To-day  gleams  whitest  in  the  sun. 
Ay,  Soul,  thy  very  Self  is  unto  thee 
Immortal  pledge  of  Immortality! 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


Arlo  Bates,  A.  M.,  Litt.  D.,  Professor  of  English 
Literature,  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology, in  "Sonnets  in  Shadow" 

OH,  EGOTISM  OF  AGONY 

Oh,  egotism  of  agony!     While  we 

Weep  thus  sore  stricken,  filling  earth  with  moan, 
The  feet  of  those  we  love,  through  ways  unknown, 

Brought  into  lands  of  living  light  may  be. 

E'n  our  tear-blinded  eyes  can  dimly  see 

What  heights  are  reached  by  sorrow's  paths  alone, 
Where  heavenly  joy  and  radiance  shall  atone 

For  gloom  and  woe  that  held  us  utterly; 


268  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

And  sure  our  dead,  loftier  of  soul,  and  now 
Free  from  the  weakness  human  sight  will  mar, 
Must  death  with  power  and  vision  new  endow. 
If  we,  blind,  groping,  feel  the  truth  afar, 
They  wear  its  very  radiance  on  their  brow. 
Death  takes  a  rush-light,  but  he  gives  a  star! 
Boston,  Mass. 


Miss  Edna  Dean  Proctor,  in  "Poems." 

HEAVEN,  O  LORD,  I  CANNOT  LOSE 

Now  Summer  finds  her  perfect  prime; 

Sweet  blows  the  wind  from  western  calms; 
On  every  bower  red  roses  climb. 

The  meadows  sleep  in  mingled  balms. 
Nor  stream,  nor  bank  the  wayside  by, 

But  lilies  float  and  daisies  throng; 
Nor  space  of  blue  and  sunny  sky 

That  is  not  cleft  with  soaring  song. 
O  flowery  morn,  O  tuneful  eves, 

Fly  swift!  my  soul  ye  cannot  fill! 
Bring  the  ripe  fruit,  the  garnered  sheaves, 

The  drifting  snows  on  plain  and  hill. 
Alike,  to  me,  fall  frosts  and  dews; 

But  Heaven,  O  Lord,  I  cannot  lose! 

Warm  hands  to-day  are  clasped  in  mine ; 

Fond  hearts  my  mirth  or  mourning  share; 
And,  over  hope's  horizon  line, 

The  future  dawns,  serenely  fair. 
Yet  still,  though  fervent  vow  denies, 

I  know  the  rapture  will  not  stay; 
Some  wind  of  grief  or  doubt  will  rise 

And  turn  my  rosy  sky  to  gray. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        269 

I  shall  awake,  in  rainy  morn, 

To  find  my  hearth  left  lone  and  drear; 

Thus  half  in  sadness,  half  in  scorn, 
I  let  my  life  burn  on  as  clear 

Though  friends  grow  cold  or  fond  love  woos; 
But  Heaven,  O  Lord,  I  cannot  lose. 

In  golden  hours  the  angel  Peace 

Comes  down  and  broods  me  with  her  wings; 
I  gain  from  sorrow  sweet  release; 

I  mate  me  with  divinest  things ; 
When  shapes  of  guilt  and  gloom  arise 

And  far  the  radiant  angel  flees, 
My  song  is  lost  in  mournful  sighs, 

My  wine  of  triumph  left  but  lees  ; 
In  vain  for  me  her  pinions  shine, 

And  pure,  celestial  days  begin; 
Earth's  passion-flowers  I  still  must  twine, 

Nor  braid  one  beauteous  lily  in. 
Ah!  is  it  good  or  ill  I  choose? 

But  Heaven,  O  Lord,  I  cannot  lose! 

So  wait  I.     Every  day  that  dies 

With  flush  and  fragrance  born  of  June, 
I  know  shall  more  resplendent  rise 

Where  summer  needs  nor  sun  nor  moon. 
And  every  bud,  on  love's  low  tree, 

Whose  mocking  crimson  flames  and  falls, 
In  fullest  flower  I  yet  shall  see 

High-blooming  by  the  jasper  walls. 
Nay,  every  sin  that  dims  my  days, 

And  wild  regrets  that  veil  the  sun, 
Shall  fade  before  those  dazzling  rays, 

And  my  long  glory  be  begun ! 
Let  the  years  come  to  bless  or  bruise : 

Thy  Heaven,  O  Lord,  I  shall  not  lose. 

South  Framingham,  Mass. 


27o  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Mr.  Oscar  Fay  Adams,  Author  and  Lecturer. 

DEAR  HEART,  BELIEVE 

Dear  heart,  believe  I  think  of  you 
When  evening's  grey  shuts  out  the  blue, 
In  the  slow  hours  of  middle  night, 
Or  when  the  lances  of  the  light 
First  pierce  the  mists  of  darkness  through. 

Naught  can  the  days  of  absence  do 
If  love  be  strong,  and  hearts  be  true, 
To  blur  with  change  affection's  might, 
Dear  heart,  believe  ! 

If  sullen  death  between  us  drew 

The  veil  that  bars  from  earthly  view 
The  much  loved  face,  the  clearer  sight 
Would  still  discern,  in  death's  despite, 

Beyond  the  veil  can  love  pursue, 
Dear  heart,  believe  I 

New   York   City. 


Mrs.  Cynthia  Westover  Alden,  President  Interna- 
tional Sunshine  Society. 

JUST  A  DEWDROP 

I — who  am  I !    Just  a  dewdrop, 
Glittering,  glistening  on  the  roseleaf ; 
Yet  I  help  to*  make  Niagara, 
Help  to*  make  the  mightiest  torrents. 
Just  a  dewdrop,  quickly  passing, 
Thing  of  beauty  in  the  sunshine; 
Yet  through  me  the  desert  blossoms, 
Giving  life  where  death  was  present. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        271 

Just  a  dewdrop,  hardly  noticed, 
Never  counted  as  a  world  force; 
Yet  I  move  the  giant  engine 
Which  without  me  were  impotent. 
Just  a  dewdrop,  not  a  diamond, 
Doomed  to  cry  and  die  so  shortly; 
Yet  I  help  create  the  ocean, 
On  which  man  is  but  a  feather. 
Just  a  dewdrop,  gone  by  noontide, 
Perished,  vanished  like  a  phantom; 
Yet  my  soul  is  everlasting, 
So  I  go  to  weightier  duties — 
Type  of  souls  to  him  who  ponders 
On  the  models  of  creation. 
Though  alone  I  can  do  nothing, 
Merged  with  others  I'm  resistless; 
So  may  you,  the  human  atom, 
Learn  the  logic  of  existence. 

New  York  City. 


Mr.  William  Ordway  Partridge,  Author  and  Sculp- 
tor, in  "The  Song-Life  of  a  Sculp  tor. " 


SOWING  TO  THE  SPIRIT 

If  thou  hast  struck  one  blow  for  liberty, 

Be  of  slave  or  shackled  intellect, 

Thou  hast  not  failed.     If  into  some  lone  life 

The  light  of  nobler  days  has  come  through  thee, 

Flooding  the  shadowed  years  with  sympathy : 

Or  if  some  soul  of  moral  vision  dim 

Has,  through  thy  love,  been  led  to  clearer  things, — 

Thou  hast  not  failed.    If  thou  hast  given  a  meaning 

To  flowers  that  yesterday  were  set  aside, 

And  clothed  them  with  the  beauty  of  thy  thought; 


272  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

If  to  hard-handed  labor  thou  hast  made 
Sweet  with  enduring  rest  the  twilight  hour, 
Or  shown  the  beauty  of  the  field  and  sky 
Unto  the  peasant,  or  across  the  wave 
Unto  some  brother  thou  hast  stretched  a  hand 
Amid  the  oft  deceiving  tides  of  life, — 
Thou  hast  not  failed.    Or  if  alone  thy  lot 
To  find  thine  own  deep  faults,  and  feel  the  need, 
The  ever  present  need  of  prayer,  and  faith 
In  men  and  things  divine,  thy  life  has  been 
Of  more  enduring  worth  than  that  of  kings, 
Princes,  and  prophets  of  the  earth.     The  world 
Alas,  is  but  the  world.     Hold  it  at  naught, 
And  do  not  soil  thy  sandals  with  its  dust, 
Or  leave  them  still  without  the  temple  gate ! 
Undaunted,  yet  with  calm  humility; 
Thy  sympathy  still  deepening  with  thy  years — 
And  past  the  bourn  of  failure  or  success — 
Enter  in  peace  the  kingdoms  of  thy  soul. 

New  York  City. 


Charlotte  Fiske  Bates  (Mme.  Roge). 

IMMORTAL  THROUGH  MORTALITY 

Count  each  birthday  of  the  dead! 

Thinkest  thou  they  cannot  care? 
Ah1!  believe,  when  Thither  fled, 

Birthdays  link  the  here  and  There. 

When  some  far-off  eve  or  morn 

Gave  that  faint  breath  to  the  earth, 

Immortality  was  born ! 

Slight  thou  not  a  day  of  birth. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        273 

When  to  God's  Diviner  Sphere 

Some  loved  soul  has  entered  in! 
Were  it  not  for  advent  here, 

Heaven's  high  advent  had  not  been. 


(From  "Risk  and  Other  Poetns.") 
IN  GOOD  TIME 

Some  of  God's  truest  friends  yet  dread  to  die; 

Their  faith  but  props  the  weight  of  daily  need, 
And  in  confusion,  oft  they  question  why 

Beneath  the  thought  of  death,  it  turns  a  reed. 

Beside  dear  graves  God's  friends  must  often  weep, 
Conning  his  revelation  with  a  pain: 

The  promise  seems  too  marvellous  to  keep, 
That  dust  shall  rise  and  claim  its  soul  again. 

The  changing  chrysalis,  the  springing  seed, 
And  every  miracle  that  Nature  shows 

To  help  weak  man  hold  firmly  to  his  creed, 
In  some  fierce  agony  for  nothing  goes. 

And  though  the  creed  were  firm,  a  pang  lies  here  : 
Can  what  was  once  so  precious  to  the  sight 

In  any  other  form  be  quite  so  dear? 
The  human  dreads  a  resurrection-light. 

O  struggling  hearts!  in  such  a  mood  as  this 
Not  too  severely  tax  your  souls  with  sin : 

Doubt  not  your  heirship  to  eternal  bliss, 

Because  the  future  throws  faint  light  within. 


274  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

God  sees  that  some  would  never  be  content 

To  work  their  work  if  faith  should  trench  on  sight : 

The  inner  eye,  on  morning's  glory  bent, 

Would  make  some  souls  impatient  for  the  night. 

God  lets  faith  lend  His  glory  as  we  need 
To  do  life's  duty — rarely  for  its  ease; 

But  when  the  hands  have  wrought  their  last  good 
deed, 
Faith  shines  in  fulness  till  the  spirit  sees. 

Waverley,  Mass. 


Mr.    John    Vance    Cheney,    Librarian    Newberry 
Library. 

BY  AND  BY 

At  last  somewhere,  some  happy  day, 
The  bliss  will  round  us  lie; 
For  all  a  joyous  way 
Toi  follow  by  and  by. 

'Tis  promised  by  the  bird,  the  brook, 
The  wide  unsyllabled  air; 
Whither  I  chance  to  look 
I  see  it  written  there. 

It  flows  from  every  star  that  wheels, 
From  every  flower  that  blows, 
From  all  a  young  heart  feels, 
From  all  an  old  heart  knows, 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        275 
From  "Lyrics" 

DEATH 

Fearest  the  shadow?    Keep  thy  trust; 
Still  the  star-worlds  roll. 
Fearest  death?  sayest,   "Dust  to  dust?" 
No;  say,  "Soul  to  soul !" 
Chicago,  Ills. 


Miss  Lilian  Whiting,  in  "From  Dreamland  Sent. 
GATES  OF  EDEN 

O  Love!  in  the  Heavenly  Country. 

Immortally  young  and  fair, 
With  the  rose  and  the  gold  of  the  morning 

Just  touching  your  lips  and  your  hair, — 
Through  the  rifts  of  the  mists  and  shadows 

I  catch  a  hint  of  your  grace; 
And,  turning,  I  feel  your  presence 

Where  before  was  but  empty  space. 

Sometimes,  in  the  star-lit  silence, 

On  an  inner  sense  there  falls 
Your  voice,  like  remembered  music, 

And  a  vanished  time  recalls. 
But  the  present  is  richer,  my  darling, 

Though  between  us  now  there  lies 
That  wonderful,   mystical  region, 

Beyond  which  is  Paradise. 

And  thus  ever  sweet-companioned, 

I  will  go  on  my  way ; 
Life  deepens  in  beauty  and  meaning 

With  every  succeeding  day. 


276  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

While  you,  in  the  Heavenly  Country, 

Immortally  young  and  fair, 
Meet  the  rose  and  the  gold  of  the  morning 

Just  touching  your  lips  and  your  hair. 
Boston,  Mass. 


Mr.  Bliss  Carman,  in  "The  Word  at  St.  Kavin's." 

THE  SCEPTIC 

The  Sceptic  sees  but  part 
Of  Nature's  mighty  heart, 

A  wide  berth  would  I  give  that  dangerous  shoal,- 
Steer  for  the  open  sea, 
No  sight  of  land,  but  free, 
Trusting  my  senses,  shall  I  doubt  my  soul? 
New  York  City. 


Anna    Katharine    Green,    B.    A.,     (Mrs.    Charles 
Rohlfs),  in  "The  Defence  of  the  Bride!1 

ROSA,  DYING 

Then  this  is  death — 

How  strange,  how  strange !    Another  hour, 
Another  breath 

Of  joyous  life,  of  love,  and  all  is  o'er, 
The  scarcely  opened  blossom  perished  in  its  flower ! 

And  I  so'  young ! 

Ah,  when  I  first  awoke  to  hear 
The  music  rung 

From  what  had  once  been  only  held  so  dear, 
Because  in  outward  show  it  glimmered  bright  and 
clear, 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        277 

It  seemed  to  me 

The  longest  life  was  all  too  fleet 
An  ecstasy 
For  one  to<  hear  the  mighty  ages  beat 

Their  hidden  meanings  out  in  harmony  complete. 

And  now  I  die! 

And  all  the  hopes  which  girlhood  hath 
Go  softly  by, 

Stranding  upon  the  silent  shores  of  Death 
Like  little  boats  blown  home  by  twilight's  purple 
breath. 

Nay,  rather,  Heart, 

Like  little  boats  which  at  the  dawn 
In  joy  depart, 

And  on  towards  the  open  sea  are  borne, 
Where  rounds  to*  perfect  noon,  a  vague  imperfect 
morn. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


Mr.  Clinton  Scollard,  in  The  Independent. 
LIFT  UP  THINE  EYES 

Comrade,  that  seek'st  the  clue 
Of  whence  and  whither  to, 
Rather  in  trust  let  be 

The  shrouded  mystery! 

Brood  not,  but  toward  the  skies 

Lift  up  thine  eyes ! 

If  the  sworn  friendship  fail, 
And  fleering  foes  assail, 
If  Love,  half-deified, 
Turn  scornfully  aside, 
If  ogre  Doubt  arise, 
Lift  up  thine  eyes ! 


278  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Grip  faith  to  thee  (not  fate!) 
In  the  good  ultimate! 
With  this,  from  sun  to  sun 
Until  thy  race  be  run, 
And  the  last  daylight  dies, 
Lift  up  thine  eyes ! 


WHAT  WAS  SHALL  BE 

How  fair  the  fields  aforetime  gleamed, 
Arrayed  with  bloom  that  lured  the  bee! 

And  how  the  wind-wrecked  woodland  dreamed 
Behind  its  varied  tapestry ! 

Song  mounted  silvering  up  the  sky, 

Rang  rapturous  through  the  naves  of  blue; 

Close  seemed  the  silences  to  lie 
Tot  music  such  as  Ariel  knew. 

What  was  shall  be !     O  heart  of  mine, 

In   earth's   renascence — blade  and   bloom — 

May  we  not  rightfully  divine 

The  vernal  light — beyond  the  tomb? 
Clinton,  N.  Y. 


Mr.  David  Banks  Sickels,  Banker. 

REINCARNATION 

It  cannot  be  that  He  who  made 

This  wondrous  world  for  our  delight, 
Designed  that  all  its  charms  should  fade 

And  pass  forever  from  our  sight; 
That  all  shall  wither  and  decay, 

And  know  on  earth  no  life  but  this, 
With  only  one  finite  survey 

Of  all  its  beauty  and  its  bliss. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        279 

It  cannot  be  that  all  the  years 

Of  toil  and  care  and  grief  we  live 
Shall  find  no  recompense  but  tears, 

No  sweet  return  that  earth  can  give; 
That  all  that  leads  us  to  aspire, 

And  struggle  onward  to  achieve, 
And  every  unattained  desire 

Were  given  only  to  deceive. 

It  cannot  be  that,  after  all 

The  mighty  conquests  of  the  mind, 
Our  thoughts  shall  pass  beyond  recall 

And  leave  no  record  here  behind; 
That  all  our  dreams  of  love  and  fame, 

And  hopes  that  time  has  swept  away, — 
All  that  enthralled  this  mortal  frame, — 

Shall  not  return  some  other  day. 

It  cannot  be  that  all  the  ties 

Of  kindred  souls  and  loving  hearts 
Are  broken  when  this  body  dies, 

And  the  immortal  mind  departs; 
That  no  serener  light  shall  break 

At  last  upon  our  mortal  eyes, 
To  guide  us  as  our  footsteps  make 

The  pilgrimage  to  Paradise. 
New  York  City. 


280  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Miss  Ina  D.  Coolbrith,  in  "Songs  from  the  Golden 
Gate:' 


A  LAST  WORD 

(To  my  Mother.) 

Not  more  removed  with  the  long  years'  increase, 
Through  hours  when  storms  upon  thy  roof  of  clay 
Have  beat,  or  when  the  blossom  of  the  May 

Has  the  fettered  winter  smiled  release, — 

Not  from  my  heart  one  thought  of  thee  could  cease, 
O  loved  and  mourned  to-day  as  on  that  day 
When  from  my  sight  thy  presence  passed  away, 

Thou  spirit  of  all  gentleness  and  peace ! 

Nay,  in  the  long,  long  ways  I  walk  alone 
Still  with  me !  on  my  brow  thy  touch  is  laid 
Softly, — when  all  too  great  my  burden  grown  .  .  . 

And  I  shall  go,  serenely,  unafraid, 

Into  the  dark — well  knowing  what  dear  tone — 
Whose  hand  to  mine — O  thou  beloved  shade ! 


WHEN  THE  SPIRIT  BREAKS  AWAY 

When  the  spirit  breaks  away 

From  this  brittle  house  of  clay, 

Does  the  will  forego  its  will? 

Is  the  voice's  music  still? 

Do  the  hands  forget  their  skill? 

From  that  harp  great  Homer's  heart, 

Do  no  mighty  numbers  come? 

Lost  divinest  Raphael's  art, 

And  the  lips  of  Shakespeare  dumb  ? 

All  the  years  of  joy  and  pain 

That  are  lived  but  lived  in  vain  ? 

Memory's  graven  page  a  blot, 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        281 

Unrecorded  and  forgot? 

O,  believe,  believe  it  not! 

Man  is  God's  incarnate  thought; 

Life,  with  all  the  gifts  He  gave, 

All  the  wondrous  powers  He  wrought, 

Finds  not  ending  at  the  grave ; 

Part,  himself,  of  Deity, 

Man,  the  spirit,  canot  die.  .  .  . 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 


Mrs.  Mary  Mapes  Dodge*  Editor  of  St.  Nicholas, 
in  the  former  Scribner's  Magazine,  now  The 
Century. 

THE  TWO  MYSTERIES 

["In  the  middle  of  the  room,  near  the  coffin,  sat 
Walt  Whitman,  holding  a  beautiful  little  girl  on  his 
lap.  She  looked  wonderingly  at  the  spectacle  of 
death,  and  then  inquiringly  into  the  face  of  the  aged 
poet,  ' You  don't  know  what  it  is,  do  you,  my  dear  ?' 
said  he,  and  added,  'We  don't,  either.'  "] 

We  know  not  what  it  is,  dear,  this  sleep  so  deep  and 
still; 
The  folded  hands,  the  awful  calm,  the  cheek  so 
pale  and  chill; 
The  lids  that  will  not  lift  again,  though  we  may  call 
and  call; 
The  strange,  white  solitude  of  peace  that  settles 
over  all. 


*Died  Aug.   21,   1905. 


282  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

We  know  not  what  it  means,   dear,   this   desolate 
heart-pain; 
This  dread  to  take  our  daily  way,  and  walk  in  it 
again; 
We  know  not  to  what  other  sphere  the  loved  who 
leave  us  go, 
Nor  why  we're  left  to  wonder  still,  nor  why  we 
do  not  know. 

But  this  we  know:    Our  loved  and  dead,   if  they 
should  come  this  day, — 
Should  come  and  ask  us,  "What  is  life?" — not  one 
of  us  could  say. 
Life  is  a  mystery  as  deep  as  ever  death  can  be; 
Yet  oh !  how  dear  it  is  to  us,  this  life  we  live  and 
sees! 

Then  might  they  say, — these  vanished  ones, — and 

blessed  is  the  thought, 
"So  death  is  sweet  to  us,  beloved!  though  we  may 

show   you   naught; 
We  may  not  to  the  quick  reveal  the   mystery   of 

death — 
Ye  cannot  tell  us,   if  ye  would,  the  mystery  of 

breath." 

The  child  who  enters  life  comes  not  with  knowledge 
or  intent, 
So  those  who  enter  death  must  go  as  little  children 
sent. 
Nothing  is  known.    But  nearing  God,  what  hath  the 
soul  to  dread? 
And  as  life  is  to  the  living,  so  death  is  to  the  dead. 
New  York  City. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        283 

Gen.  Horatio  C.  King,  LL.D.,  Lawyer  and  Author. 

ASPIRATION 

When  life's  last  duty  is  finished, 

And  the  tale  is  ended  and  told; 

When  all  that  we  cherished  has  vanished, 

And  in  death  we  lie  mute  and  cold; 

We  shall  rise  and  in  light  we  shall  glory, 

In  the  light  of  our  Saviour  divine, 

And  the  face  of  our  infinite  Master, 

On  us  forever  shall  shine. 

O  Father  of  tender  compassion! 

O  Saviour  of  fathomless  love! 

We  turn  from  the  things  that  are  earthly 

To  the  nobler  things  above. 

And  we  pray  for  thy  strengthening  presence, 

For  the  hand  that  shall  lead  us  on, 

Till  we  reach  the  heavenly  mansions, 

And  rest  in  the  joys  we've  won. 

OUR  HEAVENLY  HOME 

From  over  the  river  they  beckon  to  us, 

Those  shadowy  forms  on  the  other  shore, 
Their  garments  washed  white  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb, 

In  angelic  chorus  they  sing  evermore, 
Oh !  radiant  their  smiles  as  patient  they  wait, 

The  ceaseless  advance  of  the  murmuring  tide, 
That  brings  to  their  arms  in  loving  embrace 

The  myriad  beloved  who  in  Jesus  have  died. 
We  shall  go  where  the  virtues  that  shone  upon  earth 

Shall  shine  with  a  brighter,  a  holier  light, 


284  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

Where  footsteps  of  angels  fall  soft  on  the  ear, 
Like  whisp'ring  of  zephyrs,  of  winds  in  the  night. 

We  shall  go  where  the  laugh  is  not  broken  by  sighs, 
Or  the  tremulous  body  distorted  by  pains, 

Where  the  light  of  our  lives  is  the  smile  of  our  God, 
And  pleasure  celestial  eternally  reigns. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


Charles  Carroll  Bonney,  LL.D.,  Lawyer  and  Jurist, 
Originator  and  General  President  of  World! s 
Congresses,  including  Parliament  of  Religions .* 

HENRY  CLAY 

He  is  immortal  now ! 

The  angel-monarch  Death,  the  mightiest, 
That  most  majestic  and  benign  of  all 
The  spirits  strong  and  beautiful,  to  whom 
The  great  Creative  Father  has  consign'd 
The  keeping  of  our  lives  and  destinies, 
Hath  come  at  last  to  this  illustrious 
And  aged  man,  in  th'  harvest  of  his  years, 
Of  all  his  ripened  honors  and  great  deeds, 
And  broke  the  last  dear  fetter  that  still  kept 
His  lofty  soul  within  its  wondrous  home 


*One  of  the  first  letters  sent  out  by  the  compiler  was  to 
the  organizer  of  the  Parliament  of  Religions.  It  brought 
this  reply:  "My  father  passed  to  the  world  beyond  last 
August.  I  can  best  answer  your  question  by  sending  his  own 
words,  which  express  the  faith  of  his  life."  Those  words 
may  now  be  fitly  used  in  reference  to  their  author's  dis- 
tinguished and  prophetic  life. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        285 

Of  living  dust;    hath  robed  his  glorified 
And  new-born  spirit  for  a  radiant  home 
Of  untold  beauty,  in  the  Eden  Land, 
And,  like  an  elder  brother,  led  him  through 
The  pall-hung  portal  to  the  unseen  way 
Which  goeth  out  from  life,  and  leadeth  down 
In  the  vale  of  shadows,  and  from  out 
Its  realms  of  grand,  enchanting  beauty,  up 

A  pearl-pav'd  pathway,  into  Paradise. 

****** 

He  needs  no  marble  monument  to  keep 
His  fame  and  give  it  to  posterity, 
His  deeds  are  living  temples,  and  in  them 
He  will  live  on  forever! 

We  say,  he's  dead — 
We  mean  his  mortal  body  is  put  off, 
We  mean  the  form  in  which  he  dwelt  on  earth 
Has  been  chang'd  for  one  more  glorious — 
One  incorruptible.     For  truly,  he 
Still  lives,  more  really  than  e'er  he  lived 
Before:  but  he  hath  left  the  troubl'd  sphere 
Of  the  corporeal  life,  to  fill  a  more 
Exalted  station,  as  a  member  of 
The  august  senate  of  the  mighty  dead. 
In  the  Supreme  Lawgiver's  grand  domain 
Hath  he  departed! 

Yet  his  long  career 
Of  great,  immortal  deeds,  now  sanctified 
By  Death's  sublime  ordeal,  giv'n  up 
To  History,  the  keeper  of  the  past, 
Shall  make  his  name  a  hallow'd  "household  word," 
And  in  the  bright'ning  glory  of  those  deeds 
He  lives  forever. 


286  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

(From  "Golden  Lessons.") 
Death  is  no»  longer  conqueror  and  king, 
The  grave  no  more  is  darkness  and  despair. 
The  Lord  of  Lords  hath  rolled  away  the  stone 
Of  gloom  that  barred  its  portal,  and  let  in 
The  everlasting  sunshine  of  His  throne ; 
And  now  the  eye  of  Faith  may  clearly  see, 
Beyond  the  tomb,  the  Holy  City's  spires; 
And,  through  the  open  gates,  may  catch  a  glimpse 
Of  well-remembered  faces,   full  of  love 
And  peace  and  beauty  and  celestial  joy. 
And  our  exultant  hearts  cry  out,  Oh !  Death, 
Where  is  thy  sting?    Grave,  where  thy  victory? 
Chicago,  Ills. 



James  Whitcomb  Riley,  A.  M.y  Litt.  D.}  in  "Arma- 
zindy." 

OUT  OF  THE  HITHERWHERE  INTO 
THE  YON 

Out  of  the  hitherwhere  into  the  YON — 
The  land  that  the  Lord's  love  rests  upon ; 
Where  one  may  rely  on  the  friends  he  meets, 
And  the  smiles  that  greet  him  along  the  streets: 
Where  the  mother  that  left  you  years  ago 
Will  lift  the  hands  that  were  folded  so-, 
And  put  them  about  you,  with  all  the  love 
And  tenderness  you  are  dreaming  o»f. 

Out  of  the  hitherwhere  into  the  YON — 
Where  all  the  friends  of  your  youth  have  gone, — 
Where  the  old  schoolmate  that  laughed  with  you, 
Will  laugh  again  as  he  used  to  do>, 
Running  to  meet  you,  with  such  a  face 
As  lights  like  a  moon  the  wondrous  place 
Where  God  is  living,  and  glad  to  live, 
Since  He  is  the  Master  and  may  forgive. 


SHALL  A  MAN  LIVE  AGAIN        287 

Out  of  the  hitherwhere  into  the  YON  I — 
Stay  the  hopes  we  are  leaning  on — 
You,   Divine,  with  Your  merciful  eyes 
Looking  down  from  the  far-away  skies, — 
Smile  upon  us,  and  reach  and  take 
Our  worn  souls  Home  for  the  old  home's  sake. — 
And  so  Amen — for  our  all  seems  gone 
Out  of  the  hitherwhere  into  the  YON. 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 


Prof.  T.  Berry  Smith,  in  the  Christian  Advocate. 
NOT  DEAD— NOT  LOST— NOT  FAR 

Not  dead! 

No!  no!  not  dead,  just  laid  away  from  sight 
To  slumber  undisturbed  through  one  long  night 
Instead  of  many  brief  ones  such  as  fall 
In  swift  recurrence  o'er  us  one  and  all. 
If  thou  art  glad  to  lay  thy  weary  head 
Upon  the  pillow  of  thy  nightly  bed, 
And  lose  thyself  in  slumber,  wherefore  weep 
When  loved  ones  rest  in  nature's  dreamless  sleep? 
Since  now  we  wake  when  night  has  passed  away 
In  the  old  likeness  of  the  former  day, 
May  we  not  hope  to  see  them  face  to  face 
Who  in  the  churchyard  have  their  resting  place? 
Believe  the  Master;  o'er  and  o'er  He  said — 
"Why  weepest  thou?     Only  asleep — 
Not  dead — not  dead!" 

Not  lost! 

No!  no!  not  lost,  just  parted  for  a  day 
While  we  make  journey  on  the  homeward  way, 
When  shades  of  evening  fall  and  with  desire 
We  seek  our  own  at  every  friendly  fire 


288  WHAT'S  NEXT  OR 

And  find  them  not,  then  'neath  night's  diadem 
Turning  our  faces  toward  Jerusalem 
And  thither  coming,  by  and  by  we'll  find 
The  ones  whom  yesterday  we  left  behind — 
Not  on  the  streets  by  passing  scenes  beguiled 
Where  Mary  mourning  sought  her  missing  child, 
But  in  the  Father's  house  and  His  employ 
Where  Mary  found  at  last  her  precious  boy. 
There  in  the  midst  of  God's  sanhedral  host 
We'll  hear;   "Why  sought  ye  me?    I  was 
Not  lost — not  lost!" 

Not  far! 

No !  no !  not  far,  just  hidden  from  our  eyes 
Which  wide  would  open  with  a  glad  surprise 
Could  we  but  have  for  one  moment  the  power 
Elisha's  servant  had  on  Dothan's  tower, 
To  see  how  near  us  are  the  hosts  unseen 
Guarding  our  lives,  whose  bucklers  held  between 
Serve  day  and  night  to  foil  the  quivering  darts 
A  wanton  world  flings  at  our  aching  hearts. 
Our  eyes  are  holden  and  we  cannot  see 
How  near  our  loved  ones  in  the  shadows  be; 
Thro'  cloudless  days  and  days  without  a  star 
Close  by  our  sides  like  sentinels  they  stand 
Keeping  the  promise  of  the  last  command : 
uLo!  I  am  with  you  alway"— near — 
Not  far — not  far ! 
Fayette,  Ma. 


UI  stand  upon  the  summit  of  my  life; 
Behind,  the  camp,  the  court,  the  field,  the  grove, 
The  battle  and  the  burden;   vast,  afar, 
Beyond  these  weary  ways,  Behold,  the  Sea! 
The  sea  oyerswept  by  clouds  and  wings  and  wings, 
By  thoughts  and  wishes  manifold,  whose  breath 
Is  freshness,  and  whose  mighty  pulse  is  peace. 
Palter  no  question  of  the  horizon  dim, — 
Cut  loose  the  bark;  such  voyage  itself  is  rest. 
Majestic   motion,,  unimpeded   scope, 
A  widening  heaven,  a  current  without  care, 
Eternity!     deliverance,  promise,  course! 
Time-tired  souls  salute  thee  from  the  shore." 

— Joseph  Brownlee  Brown. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


JUN    9    1348 



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